New York, New York
by prettylittlestcries
Summary: After moving from the petite, quiet town of Rosewood to the city that never sleeps, Hanna and Caleb have to adjust to family life in busy New York. What happens when Hanna loses the job of her dreams and Caleb is offered his on the other side of the country?
1. Chapter 1

The water ripples from the large swimming pool glistened in the orange and red sunlight. The sun was slowly setting, and it was illuminating Hanna's backyard with various bursts of color. She sat on the step by the door with her knees curled under her chin, watching Caleb and their two-year-old daughter, Madelyn, in the air. The toddler came down with such a splash, the water droplets flew for miles. She shrieked with laughter as Caleb did it again and again, and Hanna couldn't help but smile. There certainly wasn't anything sweeter than a father bonding with his daughter.

"Caleb," Hanna called across the yard. The brunette stopped what he was doing and turned his head to the left, so he was facing her. "It's nearly her bedtime."

Caleb nodded, but not before looking at the tiny blonde, who was still giggling. Her huge armbands covered her face, making it look like they were almost suffocating her. But she seemed to be having a whale of a time. Her little feet kicked up the water as she attempted to swim, using the basic techniques her Auntie Em had taught her last time she'd visited. Hanna and Caleb were always astounded at how much their daughter remembered of swimming: she seemed to forget everything else she was taught, such as picking up her toys when she'd finished with them, or not throwing food across the kitchen when eating. It looked like Madelyn was going to take after Emily.

"Mommy says we need to get out now," Caleb said to the toddler, frowning.

Hanna, who was making her way over to the pool with two towels, said, "Make me sound like the bad guy why don't you."

Caleb sat Madelyn on the side and grinned at Hanna. "If it makes me the favorite parent, I'll do whatever it takes."

"You're already the favorite parent," Hanna sighed. As much as she hated admitting it, it was definitely true. Madelyn had her father wrapped around her little finger; she could get him to do whatever she wanted. Hanna reached the poolside and squatted down. She tickled her daughter's cheek before wrapping a pink fluffy towel around her dripping body. "Maddie, who do you love more: Mommy or Daddy?"

Caleb laughed and exclaimed, "Han, you can't ask her that!"

"Why not?" the blonde replied. Hanna stood up before picking Madelyn up. The toddler was swaddled so tightly, she couldn't move a muscle, and was laughing hysterically the whole way back into the house. Caleb followed, after drying himself with the towel Hanna had left him. When Hanna looked back and saw Caleb was quite a way behind, she moved her face closer to her daughter's and whispered, "Maddie, you need to say you love me more, okay?"

"Why Mommy?" Madelyn asked, a little too loudly. Hanna shushed her, and her version of a quiet voice, the little girl repeated, "Why Mommy?"

"Because it'll be funny," Hanna replied. She heard Caleb's bare feet padding across the kitchen floor and nodded at Maddie. "Say it now."

"Daddy," the small blonde shouted. "I haf somefink I gotta tell you."

Caleb pulled out a can of beer from the fridge and turned around, smirking. Madelyn was now standing by his feet, looking up at him with her big, blue eyes. "Do you now? And what would that be, Madelyn?" He knew what was coming and couldn't help but emit a small laugh.

"I love Mommy more." Maddie, herself, laughed and looked back at Hanna, who was grinning.

"Come on, bug. Let's get you to bed," Hanna said, walking forwards. She placed her hands on the two-year-old's shoulders and pushed her so she'd start moving. Maddie groaned, but didn't try and stop her mom. As Hanna passed Caleb, she said, "You heard it, Rivers. She loves me more." Madelyn was already at the bottom of the stairs, so Hanna had to hurry to catch her before she went any further. After spending almost 10 minutes just getting up the stairs, Hanna directed her daughter into her bedroom. Madelyn's room was painted a pale pink — a color Hanna had wanted ever since she found out she was having a daughter — with various pieces of white and pink furniture. Maddie charged into the bedroom and headed straight for her collection of stuffed animals, which was something she did every night. Without one — or more than one — she couldn't sleep.

"Which animal is it tonight, Mads?" Hanna asked as she pulled out a pair of pyjamas from the white chest of drawers in the corner. She turned around to find the young child holding a dolphin in one hand and a unicorn in the other. "Can't decide, huh?"

"Mommy, what one?" Maddie asked, shoving them both in Hanna's face.

The blonde thought for a moment, as if it were a serious question. "I think the…dolphin! And then I can sleep with the unicorn." Hanna took the stuffed dolphin from Madelyn's chubby hand, taking her by surprise.

"You don't sleep wif a anmal, Mom," the toddler replied, laughing. She snatched the toy back from her mother and threw it into the pile she had retrieved it from. Maddie pulled out her pyjama top that was in Hanna's hand, but immediately handed it back to Hanna. "Put it on," she ordered. Hanna raised her eyebrows at her daughter's order, but did it anyway. She then proceeded to put on a pair of pyjama shorts on Madelyn, before taking her through to the bathroom.

As Maddie stood herself on the stool by the basin, Hanna grabbed her toothbrush and toothpaste. She squirted a bit of paste on, and then held it in front of Madelyn's mouth. "Open wide."

After the toddler was finished in the bathroom, the blonde led her back into her bedroom, laid her in her pink bed and gently covered her with her blanket. It was currently summer in Rosewood, meaning all bedrooms got hot and stuffy at night, so Hanna had swapped the duvet for a blanket given to Madelyn from Aria and Ezra at her birth.

"Do you want a story tonight?" Hanna asked as she knelt by the bed. Maddie furrowed her eyebrows and pouted — something she did every time she had to think. A few moments later, the toddler shook her head. "No?"

"Not tonight," she said. "I too tired now."

Hanna raised an eyebrow and said, "Okay then." She gave her daughter a big kiss on her forehead before wandering over to the door, where she paused. As she switched off the lights, she said, "Night, baby." Caleb was walking up the stairs as Hanna was gently shutting the door. Hanna looked at him and immediately knew why he was upstairs. Without saying anything, she reopened Madelyn's bedroom door and let him in. She heard the blonde's voice pipe up as Caleb walked into the room, and then heard Caleb tell her to settle down.

"Night night, bug," Caleb called before he walked back out. Behind him, Hanna quietly pulled the door shut and headed down the carpeted hallway. "She'll be out like a light, she was so hyper today."

Hanna nodded, agreeing. "She didn't even want a story. She always wants a story, unless she's too tired." As the couple reached the bottom of the staircase, she added, "Hopefully this means we can get a lie in tomorrow morning."

The blonde and brunette headed through to the living room, where they sat on the couch bought at Pottery Barn. Hanna snuggled into Caleb as he flicked the listings of TV shows. Hanna pointed at one: The Real Housewives of Orange County, but Caleb said no. He then suggested watching Games of Thrones, but Hanna said she'd rather stick pins in her eyes. They finally settled on watching a pre-recorded Orange is The New Black.

Bella, the young family's Shih Tzu, came bounding over and hopped onto the couch, joining Hanna and Caleb. She padded across Hanna's lap and onto Caleb's, where she proceeded to lay down and rest her head on his knee. Hanna looked over and giggled: Caleb was such a manly man, but Bella was such a famine breed of dog. To Hanna, it was a funny sight. To Caleb, not so much.

"Why are you laughing?" he asked as he stroked the dog's head. "Have you never seen a man and his dog bond before?"

"I have," Hanna laughed as she sat up. "It's just normally not a man with a Shih Tzu with a purple bow in her fur." The blonde reached over and picked one of Madelyn's hair bows from the fur by Bella's ear and held it up to Caleb. With it, a big clump of fluff was pulled out. "We have got to stop letting Maddie do this."

"Can we get another dog?" Caleb asked, taking Hanna by surprise. The blonde looked at him, confused. "You got to choose Bella. Can I choose one?"

Hanna shrugged. "I suppose so. Wait, you aren't thinking about getting one of those Great Danes are you? Because I really don't think they go well with two-year-olds."

"No, Han," Caleb laughed. "I wasn't thinking about getting a Great Dane. I was thinking maybe more of a Husky sort of breed."

The blonde nodded, liking that idea. "Husky's are cute. Plus, they have the most amazing eyes," she sighed happily. "Can we wait until after we've moved, though?"

"Sure."

Unfortunately, Hanna and Caleb didn't get the lie in they both desired. Madelyn decided it would be a good idea to wake up at 6 o'clock, more hyper-active than ever before. She was jumping on the bed, yelling and screeching when Caleb walked in, and she had Bella barking beneath her. Hanna, who was pretty much still asleep, followed her husband and gasped when she saw what Madelyn was doing.

"Madelyn Ava Rivers, get your ass of that bed right now!" Hanna exclaimed, suddenly fully awake. Caleb stood to her right, laughing. Bella was frightened by the yelling and whimpered before trotting out of the room. Maddie frowned and stepped off the bed, but fell before she got her balance. She let out a cry, but Hanna wasn't sure if that was because she had been told off or if she'd hurt herself. The blonde sighed and padded over to her wailing daughter, bent down, and then looked her in the eye. "What's wrong, baby?"

Madelyn was only a toddler — two, nearly three — meaning her speech wasn't quite perfected yet. She started pointing to her arm and mumbling something, but between her cries and the fact she couldn't talk well, Hanna had no idea what she was saying. As Maddie continued to complain, Hanna looked back at Caleb worried. "What if she's hurt herself?"

Caleb walked over to the pair and crouched down, resting his hand reassuringly on the blonde's shoulder. "Madelyn's fine, babe. She's two, she's going to fall and bump herself."

"But she keeps crying and pointing to her arm," Hanna said in a groan. Her inner mother was definitely coming out. "What if it's broken?"

"Maddie," Caleb said, grabbing his daughter's attention. Madelyn sniffled and ceased her tears. "Is your arm okay?"

The small blonde shook her head and pouted. "It hurts."

"Let me see." Caleb gently took a hold of Maddie's tiny arm and peered at it. There was no bruise, no swelling, just a tiny scratch. Caleb pointed it at and asked, "Is this what's hurting?" Madelyn nodded in reply. "Baby, this is the smallest cut I've ever seen."

"Cut?" Hanna exclaimed. She peered over Caleb's shoulder, and let out a sigh of relief when she saw it was so small. "Oh thank God," she breathed.

"Should Mommy and I give it a kiss better?"

"Yeah," Madelyn replied, a tiny smile growing on her face. After both Hanna and Caleb had bent down and given her arm a kiss, she suddenly perked off and skipped out of the bedroom.

"Well, that pain didn't last long," Hanna said as she stood up. She looked down and realised she wasn't wearing any pants, but instead was wearing one of Caleb's old — well not really old as such; it was just one she had worn once and then claimed as her own — baggy shirts that barely covered the top of her thigh. Even though Madelyn was now in the room at the end of the hall, which was her playroom, Hanna pulled it down, hoping it would cover more.

"Babe, what's wrong?" Caleb asked, noticing what she was doing. He put her arm around her shoulders, but the blonde shook it off and stepped away.

"Nothing, I just need to put some pants on." Hanna rushed out of the room, leaving a rather bewildered Caleb standing alone.

 **A/N - yay a new haleb story! I've just realised all of my stories are about haleb, but who cares. HALEB ARE ENDGAME, OKAY?**

 **anyway, i really hope you all enjoy this new story! i'm currently working out the whole plot, but hopefully it's going to be a good one :))**

 **leave your reviews!**


	2. Chapter 2

"Bella, sit," Caleb ordered. The dog obediently sat down on the grass and stared up at the brunette. "Good girl," Caleb praised, squatting down to ruffle her head. She barked lovingly and rubbed herself on Caleb's leg as he stood back up. Bella was tied back up in her leash — much to her disgust — and was dragged by Caleb over to the playground.

Hanna was holding Madelyn's waist as she attempted to climb up the slide. "Maddie, you do realise that you're supposed to go _down_ the slide, right?" The toddler ignored her mom and carried on heading up. She reached top, wriggled from Hanna's grip, turned around and sat her butt down on the cold metal. After a few nudges, Madelyn pushed herself down the slide, into Caleb's arms.

"Again, again!" Madelyn squealed as Caleb put her on the floor. The brunette chuckled and handed the dog's leash over to Hanna before grabbing the tiny child's hands and leading her over to the slide. She managed to put one leg on, but the gap between the slide and the ground was too much and she couldn't put the other on, so Caleb had to swing her up. She giggled hysterically.

Hanna was glancing around Rosewood's local park and noticed the gatherings of people coming from the direction of the church. The blonde took a quick look at the time on her phone and noticed the usual Sunday morning service would have ended. "Hey, Caleb," she said. Caleb paused from helping Maddie, and turned towards her. "I think it's over." She nodded to where all the people were, and Caleb looked there too.

"Do you want to do it now?" Caleb asked as he looked back at his wife. Hanna nodded, although felt slightly nervous. "We can wait. We don't have to do it today."

"No, I want to," Hanna replied. She tightened the grip she had on Bella's leash and waited for Caleb to retrieve Madelyn from the slide. As the pair joined her by the gates, all three headed out onto the sidewalk, where Hanna took a hold of Madelyn's right hand. When she saw Caleb had the other, she stepped forwards and said, "Maddie, do you remember what we do when we cross the road?"

"Han, she's two. She can't remember that," Caleb muttered.

"Well if she can remember how to swim, I think she can remember what I taught her yesterday." Hanna looked left and then right across the road, before saying it out loud. "We look both ways, okay? We have to check to see if there are any cars coming."

"Cars coming," the toddler repeated. The family of three headed into the road and walked over to the opposite sidewalk, which was by the entrance to the church. As soon as they reached the walkway, Hanna looked up and saw her stepfather, Ted, saying goodbye to the church-goers. She almost felt bad: her mother's husband was the pastor for her local church, and she didn't even bother going. But then she realised how much of a bore she found the services, and didn't feel quite so bad.

Ted noticed the blonde standing there and gave her a small wave before poking his head around the church's door. He reemerged with Ashley, who was grinning. Caleb pointed Ashley out to Madelyn, who then bounded over to her grandma and jumped into her arms. After a long hug with Grandma, Madelyn threw herself into Ted's arms. Hanna reached for Caleb's hand and intertwined his fingers with her own. She smiled as Maddie start balling away to her grandparents, and couldn't help but laugh when she saw Ashley and Ted nod along, even though they had no idea what she was saying.

When the toddler finally stopped talking, Ashley ushered the couple inside and led them through to the room off of the main church.

"So," the redhead began. Ted wandered in, still carrying Madelyn, and went over to stand next to his wife. "What did you want to tell us?"

Hanna felt her palms become clammy, and her heart rate quicken. At one point, she thought her heart was going to burst through her chest: she was just so nervous. To avoid feeling as guilty, Hanna made sure she didn't make contact with either Ted or Ashley, so kept her focus on Caleb the whole time.

"Well…the thing is…" Hanna couldn't find the right words. "We…uh…"

"Hanna, just spit it out," Ted laughed.

Seeing his wife struggling, Caleb stepped in. "Hanna's been offered a job in New York. And she's taking it."

Ashley's face fell a mile. She had gotten so used to seeing her daughter and granddaughter every day for the past 3 years, she couldn't imagine spending a week without them, let alone longer. Ted seemed upset, too. His smile faded, and even Madelyn noticed.

"We would have told you before but we weren't sure if I was going to take it," Hanna added. She finally looked at her mother, who looked like she was about to cry. "But New York isn't that far away. We can still come and visit all the time. And you and Ted can come and visit us."

Ashley braved a small smile and said, "I'm happy for you both. I know how much you've wanted to move back to New York since college. This is perfect for you, Han." She stepped forwards and wrapped her arms around Hanna's back. The blonde hugged tightly and breathed in her mom's perfume: Chanel. Ashley had been wearing it since Hanna was in seventh grade. Hanna only remembered it was seventh grade because she went with her mom to buy it, and noticed all the store workers staring at the mother and daughter. Ashley was so stick-thin, but had such a elephant of a daughter. Well, that's what Hanna thought, anyway.

"Congratulations on the job, Hanna." Ted gave her a quick hug after Ashley, and his smile seemed to return. Madelyn suddenly perked up again, sensing the change in mood, and started singing. Hanna made the song out to be a rendition of Justin Bieber's song Sorry; a song that Hanna had recently been obsessed with. It was on constantly in the car. No wonder Maddie was singing it.

Hours later, Hanna, Caleb, Ashley and Ted were sitting around the kitchen table in Ashley and Ted's house, finishing their discussion on New York. Madelyn had become bored pretty fast, and was now running around, chasing her grandparents' kitten.

"I just can't imagine not seeing my Maddie baby every day," Ashley said as she arose from the table. She grabbed the plates from the table and brought them to the sink, where she proceeded to place them down. She made a mental note to remember to wash them later. "It's going to be so weird not having you in Rosewood anymore."

"Mom, I left Rosewood for New York for four years when I went to college. This is practically the same thing," Hanna replied. She carried her's and Caleb's glasses over to the kitchen counter and paused as she stood in front of her mother. "You know we'll come and visit you as much as possible. Once I've settled into this new job, I should be able to be pretty flexible with my hours."

"I thought you said you were working for a wedding dress design company. I doubt they'll let you be flexible with your hours, Hanna," Ashley said bluntly.

Hanna grinned widely, and looked at Caleb, who nodded in her direction. "Well there was one thing I didn't tell you about the job." Ashley looked at her daughter, confused. "I'm going to be co-owning it."

"What?" the redhead exclaimed. Ted, who had been sitting with Caleb had the kitchen table, scraped his chair back and joined his wife and step-daughter. "You're going to be owning your own store?"

" _Co_ owning, Mom," Hanna corrected. "One of my friends from college saw my latest designs in my job now and offered me the position."

"Hanna, that's amazing!" Ashley seemed a lot more on bored about the idea now she knew Hanna had a stable job. "Does it pay well?"

"Yes, Mom. It pays just fine."

"We're so happy for you, Hanna," Ted said as Ashley squealed to herself. Hanna thanked him, before wandering over to Madelyn. She found her crouching down and petting the kitten, who had sat down, too. The blonde picked her mini-me up, and sat her on her hip.

"Right, bug. I think it's time we headed home. Can you say bye-bye to Grandma and Granddad?" Hanna pointed to her parents and smiled as Madelyn gave them a big wave. The toddler stretched over her mom and gave Ashley and Ted equally big hugs, and even let them kiss her, which she normally hated from anyone besides Hanna or Caleb. The group all headed towards the front door, but before leaving, Hanna turned and said, "We're heading into New York tomorrow for a couple of days, so you won't need to look after Maddie, obviously. But I'll call as soon as we're back in town."

"Okay," Ashley replied simply. She tickled her granddaughter's rosy cheek, making Madelyn giggle. "Bye Maddie. I'll miss you when you're away!"

"Bye Gandma! Bye Gandad!" Maddie called as Caleb opened the door. Hanna stepped out, and Madelyn started waving again. "Love you!"

Hanna, Caleb and Madelyn walked down the sidewalk as they headed for their own house a few streets away. Hanna's hand was interlocked with Caleb's, and Madelyn was happily skipping along a few meters in front of them. She was carrying Caleb's car keys, and was pretending she had her own car. Hanna couldn't help but giggle.

"She's so cute," she whispered to Caleb, although there was nobody else about to hear.

The brunette nodded in agreement and replied, "She sure is."

Shortly after leaving Ashley and Ted's, the young family made it to their large 50s style house. It was the biggest house on the block, and Hanna had never been more proud of it. She'd spent the past 3 years decorating it just to her and Caleb's liking, and it had finally paid of.

Caleb wandered inside, following Madelyn through to her downstairs playroom. Hanna poked her head around the door to see what they were doing, smiled when she saw Caleb was helping the toddler pull out her barbies from the box, and then headed through to the kitchen to grab a drink.

"Babe," Hanna called out as she opened the door to the refrigerator. "Do you want a drink?"

"A beer please," Caleb yelled back. Hanna pulled out a bottle of Corona — which was his favorite brand — for him and a can of soda for herself before making her way through to join Caleb and Maddie in the playroom.

"Mama," the small blonde said sash saw her mom walk through. Hanna smiled and ruffled her hair, then proceeding to perch herself on the basic couch that was positioned by the window. The playroom was painted a pale pink color, similar to Madelyn's bedroom. At one end, there was a a pink and black striped teepee Spencer had given to the toddler for her first birthday, and at the other was a child's kitchen set Claudia, Caleb's mother, had given her. Scattered around the floor were various dolls, stuffed animals and books, but most were stacked up in big, white cabinets that stretched up to the ceiling. Along the wall, there was the alphabet hung up, which Hanna and Caleb both made sure they went over daily with Madelyn.

"Maddie, are you excited to go to New York tomorrow?" Hanna asked as she picked up a doll from the floor. She stroked the hair down, but was stopped when the toddler snatched it from her hands.

"Mine," Madelyn snapped. She trotted back over to her teepee, where she threw the doll inside, joining the hundreds of others she had already put in there. As she wandered back over to her parents, she started repeating, "New York, New York, New York."

"That's right! We're going to New York tomorrow!"

Caleb took a sip of his beer and placed it down on the small table next to him. He got the toddler's attention and ushered over to him, where he grabbed her waist and pulled her onto his knee. "But you don't want to go to New York tomorrow do you because Daddy's not going, right?"

"New York morrow!" Madelyn exclaimed, completely ignoring her father's comment. "New York, New York!"

Hanna chuckled and wanted to say, _See, she does love me more_ , but didn't. Instead, she decided to expand on what Caleb had said. "Maddie, Daddy isn't coming with us to New York, okay? He has stay here in Rosewood to do his stupid, boring work."

"Daddy no New York," the blonde mumbled to herself. "Daddy work."

"Yep, Daddy has to work," Caleb replied. He turned to his wife and said, "And it isn't stupid, boring work. It's the work that bought us this house."

"Are you saying my job didn't contribute to the buying of this house?" Hanna asked. She had a smirk on her face, as did Caleb, knowing that this was a joke.

"Maybe I'm saying that." The brunette took another sip of his beer before turning back to her. "Maybe I'm not.

Although it was a joke, Hanna was a little confused. Was he saying that or not? She decided to just ignore his last comment, and focused her attention back on Madelyn. "Right missy," she said as she got a firm hold of the toddler's arm. "It's time for you to go to bed."

 **A/N - ooooh haleb are moving to new york!**

 **i hope this chapter was okay! make sure to review, follow and favorite!**

 **NEXT CHAPTER IS POSTED WHEN I GET 5 REVIEWS!**


	3. Chapter 3

After zipping the last of the luggage up, Hanna stood up and grabbed the handle of the case, before walking it slowly down the stairs. Caleb was keeping Madelyn occupied by reading a book to her, but she was beginning to get fidgety, and it didn't help when she heard her mother's heels clicking around the hallway. She jumped from the couch in the living room, and speedily found Hanna huffing by the front door. She was trying to remember whether she'd put in enough pairs of shorts for Madelyn without having to go and look in her bedroom, but she just couldn't remember at all.

"Mommy!" Madelyn called as she ran up to her mother. Hanna sighed slightly: she was also trying to do this without a toddler running around her feet distracting her. Luckily, Caleb followed through and managed to catch Madelyn before taking her back through to the living room.

After concluding she _had_ put enough shorts in for Maddie, Hanna moved on to checking her carry-on. She made sure she had her phone charger, phone, money, passport, a pack of gum and all the other essentials for a short flight.

"Caleb, I'm done," Hanna yelled as she placed her bag on the stairs and started walking through to the living room. She heard Maddie let out a little squeal and her bare feet padding against the kitchen tiled floor. As Hanna enter the kitchen, Madelyn grinned and jumped into her mom's arms. "Hey," Hanna laughed as she was bombarded with the toddler. "What's up, baby?"

"New York!" Madelyn exclaimed excitedly. Hanna tickled her daughter's stomach before heading through to the living room, where she found Caleb clearing up toys.

After readjusting Madelyn on her hip, Hanna slowly bent down and picked up a book that had fallen from the shelf. "Can we leave in a minute?"

"Sure," Caleb answered, nodding. He put away the remaining toys and followed his wife and daughter through to the hallway. After shoving on a pair of Timberlands, Caleb grabbed the keys to his Land Rover and collected as many pieces of luggage he could hold.

"I'm going to miss you this week," the brunette said as he drove down the highway. Madelyn was in the back singing to herself as she 'read' her book, and Hanna was in the passenger seat. "I hate it when we have to be apart."

"Caleb, it's 3 days. 3 days and I'll be back here with you. Anyway, it's not like New York is a million miles away, right?" Hanna replied. She took a sip from the water bottle she had put in her purse before leaving, and cleared her throat, which was feeling oddly scratchy. Come to think of it, Hanna realised she didn't quite feel herself. She really hoped she wasn't going to be sick for the interview.

Caleb nodded, as if to say, _I suppose so_. He took a right turn, and suddenly the car was in the airport's parking lot. After pulling into an empty space, Caleb opened the door as Hanna stepped out, and then proceeded to unload the cases from the trunk as Hanna dealt with Madelyn. One of one, Caleb loaded the cart he had found up with Hanna's million and one bags. Before meeting Hanna, Caleb had never known someone who needed so many items just for a short vacation, but now it didn't even surprise him when she took four pieces of luggage on a weekend stay in Montecito.

"New York now?" Madelyn asked as Hanna placed her on the ground and took her hand. The blonde nodded and smiled at her daughter before she started walking over to her husband. Maddie was still holding her book, but Hanna didn't have the energy to have an argument with her two-year-old about leaving it behind. If Madelyn lost it, it was her loss, not Hanna's. It might not have been the best way of going about the situation; the young mother just had other things on her mind. As the family headed inside the busy airport, the toddler was chanting, "New York," over and over again. It was all Hanna and Caleb had heard for the past 24 hours, and it was doing both their heads in.

It took a lengthy hour to reach the check-in desk after the long queue had taken a while to die down. Luckily, it was a speedy process to hand over all the luggage, and soon, it was all headed for the airplane. Caleb now had a very wriggly Madelyn in his arms, and was trying to calm her down as Hanna wandered off to grab some food. She returned with a few pretzels, and after giving Maddie half a one, the toddler quietened herself.

"Don't forget to feed Bella twice a day," Hanna reminded as the thought popped into her head. She chomped on the last bit of her pretzel and Caleb nodded, although rolled his eyes simultaneously. Hanna was acting as if Caleb hadn't ever been left alone before. "Oh, and there's a big pile of clothes that need to be washed in our bedroom. But I can't remember if we have any detergent left. You might want to check that."

"Okay Hanna," Caleb sighed. He scrunched up his napkin and threw it into the nearest trash can, before pulling out a packet of Extra gum and popping one into his mouth. He offered one to Hanna, subtly so Madelyn didn't see, but she declined. " _You_ need to remember to phone me the second you arrive in New York, okay?"

The blonde nodded. "I won't forget." She gave a big smile before collapsing into Caleb's arms. Even 3 days was too long to be without him. Her arms wrapped around Caleb's neck, although Madelyn was in the way slightly. The toddler tried to wriggle free of her father's grip and dropped to the ground. After quickly making sure she was alright, Caleb returned back to hugging his wife. "I love you."

The brunette placed a kiss on the top of Hanna's head and replied, "I love you too."

An hour later, the plane touched down in New York. Hanna and been staring out of the window for the entire flight, but Madelyn had fallen asleep 5 minutes in. The blonde gently picked the toddler up the second the seatbelt sign was lifted, and let her flop over her shoulder. Madelyn seemed completely out of it, and didn't even awake when people kept barging into Hanna and knocking her.

Standing in baggage claim, waiting for the pair, was Aria. She spotted her friend and gave a big wave, which Hanna found slightly embarrassing, if she was honest. "Hanna!" Aria called. Hanna hurried over and was immediately engulfed in a hug from the tiny brunette. "I've missed you!" Aria peered around Hanna's shoulder to check whether the toddler was awake — which she finally was — and gave her a little tickle under the chin. "And you, my little Maddie bug."

"Thank you for letting us stay with you," Hanna said as the three walked through the busy airport. She was pushing the cart full of luggage, and Aria was being dragged along by Madelyn, who had definitely benefited from her nap on the flight. The toddler was as energetic as ever, and was babbling away as she gripped Aria's hand tightly. "I really appreciate it."

"You don't need to thank me, Han," the petite adult replied. She turned her head back to smile at Hanna, but Madelyn suddenly speeded up her pace and started running off, pulling Aria with her.

"Maddie calm down," Hanna called firmly. Her daughter ignored her, containing to barge through crowds of people. Both Hanna and Aria were apologising as they followed through. "Don't ignore me, Maddie. Madelyn Ava!"

Eventually, Aria managed to stop the hyperactive toddler and ceased the running. She picked her up, swinging her onto her hip. "You're one crazy kid, Maddie."

Madelyn giggled and poked Aria's cheek whilst repeating, "Crazy."

Hanna caught up with her daughter and friend, slightly out of breath. She had had to push her way through dozens of angry passengers, and was even forced to break into a run when she suddenly lost sight of the two. "Jesus, Madelyn. You can't run off like that!"

"Han, it's alright," Aria reassured. "I wouldn't have let her do anything stupid."

The blonde sighed and nodded. "I know. I'm just…I don't know. I just got worried that I'd lost her."

Not long after the incident in the airport, Aria pulled up outside of her Manhattan apartment. After she and Hanna unloaded the trunk of the blonde's luggage, they all headed inside, only to find the elevator was broken.

"Crap," Aria muttered as she read the sign. She turned to Hanna and pointed to the stairway behind her. "The stairs it is, I suppose." Hanna groaned and threw her head back, but followed her friend over, simultaneously making sure her daughter wasn't getting into any more mischief.

It felt like 4 workouts in one to Hanna as she heaved her's and Madelyn's suitcases up the floors and floors of stairs. She reached the floor that Aria's apartment was on, and let out the biggest sigh of relief, in amongst all her panting. "Well, I'm not going to have to go to the gym for a year after that."

Aria chuckled, and ushered the two blondes to follow her. She brought them to a green door with the number 563 on it, and proceeded to pull out a key and unlock it. The first thing Hanna heard — besides the creaking of the old door — was a young girl's voice, followed by Ezra's familiar one. The brunette held the door open as Hanna pushed all the bags through. Ezra saw her struggling, and immediately jumped from the couch to help her.

"Maddie!" the young girl called out. She had been sitting on the floor in front of the couch, but stood when she saw her friend.

Madelyn, who had been standing behind her mom's legs, suddenly appeared and ran into the room whilst exclaiming, "Coco!" The two girls threw themselves into each other's arms so hard both nearly toppled over. They were giggling hysterically while they seemingly tightened their grip around each other.

Hanna, Aria and Ezra stood back in amusement. "And the best friends have been reunited," Aria said quietly.

Chloe, or Coco as everyone called her, was Aria and Ezra's eldest child, their youngest being 7 month old Caden. Chloe was three months older than Maddie, and the pair were inseparable when together. They had been best friends since day one, which Hanna and Aria were both ecstatic about. In fact, both women had said, after finding out they were both having girls around the same time, that they believed they would grow up to be best friends.

That evening, Hanna sat in the Fitz's guest room calling Caleb. It didn't take long for him to answer, or even any time at all. It was like he had been waiting for the call with his phone in his hand.

"You said you'd call me as soon as you arrived in New York," was the first thing Caleb said when he answered.

Hanna felt a twinge of guilt. "I know, I know. I'm sorry. But it was so hectic! Madelyn decided it would be funny to run off with Aria, and at one point I lost them and it was just…" she groaned, which was the only was she could describe the whole encounter. "I'm really sorry, babe."

Caleb smiled, although Hanna didn't know that. He was imagining the scene playing out in his head, with Hanna running through an airport in search of the toddler and Aria. He even let out a small laugh just thinking about it. "Oh how fun that sounds! I wish I was there," he replied sarcastically. Hanna rolled her eyes, but smirked. "Anyway, it's okay. At least we can talk now."

"So," Hanna began, changing the subject. "how is Rosewood?"

"Han, you literally saw it, like, 3 hours ago." Caleb glanced at the clock in the living room to check he was right. "Yeah, 3 hours ago."

"Well it might have changed it three hours. There could have been an earthquake or something, I don't know."

"Yes, Hanna. There was a major earthquake the second you left. The whole town is practically gone. I don't know how I survived," the brunette responded.

Hanna tutted at his sarcasm. "You're such a jerk."

"I love you too, babe." Caleb made kissing noises down the phone, and heard Hanna try and stifle a giggle. His sounds awoke Bella, who had been peacefully dozing beside him. He turned to the dog and said, "Hey Bella, do you want to say hi to Mommy?"

"Bella!" Hanna exclaimed. "Aw, my baby Bella. I miss you!" Just the thought of her sweet little puppy made her heart melt. "Caleb, give her a big kiss from me."

Caleb stared at the dog, contemplating whether he should do it or not. A few moments later, he replied, "Sure," but didn't." As he opened his mouth to say something else, there was a loud noise from the other end of the phone. "Han, is everything okay? Don't tell me, the earthquake has struck New York now."

"Nope," Hanna puffed. "It was just Madelyn recking Aria and Ezra's nice guest bedroom." She leant off of the bed, pulling her daughter away from the mess she had made. Hearing the kerfuffle, Aria suddenly burst into the room. Caleb heard her ask what had happened, and then heard Hanna explain. "She pulled the lamp from the table. I'm so sorry!" The two girls picked up the pieces from the shattered lamp before Hanna quickly said to her husband, "Babe, I'm going to have to call you back later. Bye."

 **A/N - yay hanna's in new york! i hope you all don't mind that aria and chloe might be mentioned quite a bit in the upcoming chapters (but then again, i might choose not to mention them. idk)**

 **leave your reviews on this chapter! did you like it? was there something you wanted to happen in the future chapters? tell me!**


	4. Chapter 4

Hanna rooted through Madelyn's luggage until she finally came across what she had spent the past half an hour looking for: shoes. They were a pair of white sandals, which Hanna was pairing with a pair of yellow, gray and white patterned shorts and a white laced shirt. Madelyn was in the living room, but the blonde could hear her squeals from the bedroom at the end of the hall. She was playing with Chloe's dolls as she waited for her mom, but the game seemed to have evolved slightly.

Aria quietly tapped on the bedroom door and poked her head around. "Hey," she said as Hanna looked up. The brunette wandered in, smiling. "What did Caleb want?" She was referring to the phone call Hanna had received in the middle of breakfast, which Hanna had to up and leave to answer.

Remembering what the call was about, Hanna realised she had to bluff. "Oh, it was nothing important. It was just about Bella."

Suspicious, Aria creased her eyes. "Really?"

"Mhm," the blonde replied. She picked up Madelyn's sandals and gave her friend a small smile as she walked past her and into the living room. The two toddlers were building a tall stack out of piles and piles of books that filled the room. As she stood by the door, Hanna called, "Maddie, come here."

Madelyn pouted but obediently followed her mother's orders and dragged herself over. She let Hanna slide the shoes onto her feet, but the second Hanna moved her hand away, Maddie jumped up and ran away.

"Chlo," Aria said as she entered the adjoining kitchen. She started filling up the coffee machine and grabbed two mugs out of the cupboard. "You need to put those books back before Daddy gets back. You know he doesn't like you ruining them."

"But Mommy," Chloe groaned.

The brunette gave her daughter a look which immediately shut the toddler up. Hanna stood back, watching from the couch, and couldn't help but smile: it was quite the sight. "If you don't tidy up properly, you won't come with us to the playground."

As Chloe reluctantly started picking up the books, Hanna whispered in Madelyn's ear, "Go and help her." She pointed in the direction of the bookcase, where Chloe was heading, and Madelyn soon ran off and, too, picked up the books. Although they weren't in the same order as they had been before, and they were rather messy, the books were soon stacked back up on the bookcase.

"Wow, I might have to start getting Maddie to do some manual labor back at home," Hanna joked as she noticed their "handy-work".

Aria chuckled and shook her head as she handed a steaming cup of coffee to the blonde. Hanna gratefully received it, and took a sip, but cringed as it scolded her tongue. She placed it on the table beside the couch to let it cool. The brunette let out a loud laugh as she headed to her front door, where she proceeded to pick up a pair of sneakers for her daughter. After spending another 2 minutes persuading Chloe to leave Madelyn for 30 seconds so she could put her shoes on, Aria picked up her purse and smiled at Hanna, who was already raring to go.

Half an hour later, Aria and Hanna walked side by side as they wandered through a park located right in the heart of Manhattan. Maddie and Chloe were running ahead, giggling as they scared of the birds.

"Are you excited for this interview?" Aria asked, looking up at her blonde friend. Even her heels didn't make her tall enough.

Hanna shrugged. "I suppose so. I mean, it's not a big deal. I've already got the job; this is just so we can discuss when I start."

"Are you going to become one of those hot-shot designers that earn thousands a day?" the petite adult teased. Hanna gave her a faux glare but laughed. "It could happen, though."

"In my dreams. I'm grateful though, this job pays really well. Since I'm going to be spending my eternity designing wedding dresses, it should do, too," Hanna replied. She moved her focus from her friend ton her daughter, who was now picking up random leaves from the ground. Madelyn brought her hand up to her mouth and was about to eat a leaf when Hanna exclaimed, "Don't!" The blonde hurried over and snatched the dirty, dried-up leaves from Maddie's hand. "Madelyn, how many times do I need to tell you? You do not eat leaves, okay?"

Aria, who had followed shortly behind, chuckled. "So this has happened before? Does Maddie regularly try and eat leaves?"

The brunette was joking, but Hanna replied with a very firm, "Yes." She decided it was not a good idea to let Madelyn loose again, so got the toddler's pink, chubby hand and held onto it tightly. As she started walking again, Hanna said, "One day kid, you're going to eat a leaf and Mommy won't be here to stop you. Leaves are dirty and horrible and are definitely not food. You'll get sick if you eat one."

"Why?" Madelyn asked. Besides eating leaves, another thing Madelyn had also taken an interest in was asking why all the time. It drove Hanna and Caleb mad.

"I just told you! They're dirty and horrible."

Aria was to the left of Hanna, and was smiling in amusement. She'd never had that problem with her daughter, but thought it'd be funny if she did. Clearly Hanna didn't feel the same way. Not long after, Hanna glanced at her phone and had a near panic attack when she saw the time.

"Oh my God. I need to go," she gushed. Luckily enough, Aria explained to the blonde that she wasn't far from the road, where she'd be able to catch a cab. Before Hanna rushed off, she bent down and gave Madelyn a quick kiss on her forehead, although Maddie did not enjoy it. She wriggled out of her mom's clasp and ran back to Chloe. "Thanks, Mads. It's nice to know you love me back."

"Bye Han," Aria laughed as Hanna hurried off. The blonde glanced back and gave a small wave.

It didn't take long for Hanna to arrive in front of her college friend, Kyra's, store. It was a petite boutique in the centre of New York City, that was becoming more and more popular day by day. Hanna had been more than thrilled when Kyra got in touch and asked Hanna to co-own her store; it was a huge move upwards towards Hanna's dream of being a celebrity's stylist — she might actually get known in this shop. Although Hanna didn't originally want a career in wedding gown designing, the money had been too good to pass up.

"Hanna!" Kyra exclaimed when she saw her old friend walk through the doors. Kyra Emerson was a very fashion forward person; she always had been. She was wearing a daring bright yellow skirt, but contrasted it with a calm navy blue knit. Hanna noticed the gold chain hanging from her friend's neck, and knew immediately that it was the latest Tiffany necklace to be released — she had never been more jealous. Kyra's dark auburn hair flowed loosely past her shoulders, and she had a pair of golden earrings in her ears.

The blonde grinned and headed inside, proceeding to be engulfed in an overpowering scent of Coco Mademoiselle — although Hanna usually loved the perfume, it was currently giving her a headache.

After a quick greeting, Kyra started showing Hanna around the small store. She was taken to the back, where there were a few dresses hanging on the racks.

"Do you remember Angel from college?" the auburn asked as the two girls walked around. Hanna responded with a nod. "She was the original designer. Turns out she sucks ass. Majorly."

Hanna let out a laugh and asked, "Oh yeah?"

"Yep. You know we were planning on starting our own store together, right? Well we did, and that's how this came about." Kyra gazed around the room they were currently in. "But 3 months into it, Angel decided she didn't want to design wedding dresses anymore and quit."

"Just like that? Wow, she does suck," Hanna replied. There was a slight part of her that felt guilty: she didn't _actually_ want to do this job that much, so she wasn't sure if she'd be able to hack it for long. "How many clients do you get a day?"

Kyra shrugged, but answered, "It varies." She led Hanna through to a staircase beyond a door at the end that led to the upstairs stock room. "Can be 5, can up to 10. We seem to get more as time goes on."

"Hm," Hanna mumbled. She stared around the room with pictures of various fashion designers' wedding dresses, such as Romona Keveza; Vera Wang; Angel Sanchez. How was she ever going to live up to their dresses?

"Han, are you alright?"

"Yeah, sure," the blonde stuttered. She needed an _urgent_ talk with Caleb. "Kyra, is it okay if we finish this tomorrow?" Hanna was already heading towards the door.

"Well, actually I—"

Hanna didn't let her friend finish; she just interrupted with, "Okay, bye. See you tomorrow."

The blonde walked straight out of the door, not looking back once to see Kyra utterly confused. She carried on walking down the sidewalk, passing all the cabs that were parked up, waiting for customers. She carried on waling straight through the park she had been in earlier with Aria, Chloe and Madelyn. She even found herself automatically heading the way back to Aria and Ezra's apartment, even though she'd only walked this route once. There was one thought in Hanna's head the whole way: she was not going to be able to do this job. She couldn't compete with a Vera Wang dress. She didn't even want to design wedding gowns to start with. This just wasn't going to work out well.

"Hanna?" Aria asked when she saw the blonde walk through the front door. Hanna gave a brief smile as she continued inside, but didn't give any explanation. Madelyn was sitting on the couch, next to Chloe and Ezra, watching her favorite movie, Frozen. The toddler was so engrossed in the movie, she didn't notice her mother walking in. "Maddie, look. Mommy's home!" Aria called out. She was in the kitchen with her son, Caden, on her hip.

"Hey, Ar, I need to talk to Caleb so is it okay if you can watch Maddie for a few more minutes? I don't know how long I'll be," Hanna said, already pulling her phone from her Givenchy purse.

"Of course. Is everything okay?"

The blonde nodded, whilst heading down the apartment's hallway. "Yeah, it's great. There's just something I need to talk to him about."

Minutes later, Hanna sat cross-legged on the guest room's double bed. She was biting the skin around her left thumb as she waited for Caleb to answer her phone call.

"Babe? Shouldn't you be at that interview thing right now?" he said as he picked up.

"Caleb, I can't do it." The words came out in a groan, although Hanna was intending them to.

Confused, Caleb tried to think what she was on about. He couldn't come up with anything. "Can't do what?"

"The job!"

"Why, what happened?"

Hanna dropped her head and pinched the bridge of her nose. "You should have seen the dresses Kyra had in her store. I can't compete with them! My drawings looked like a three-year-old did them compared to that."

At that moment, Caleb could hear the truth in Hanna's voice; she was clearly worried. He wished he was in New York with her, and was able to hug her. "Babe, it's okay. Kyra obviously thought they were good enough otherwise she wouldn't have asked you to do it."

 **A/N - ooh so hanna's having second thoughts on her new job ;)) will she take it?**

 **review!**


	5. Chapter 5

Hanna was curled up on a dark leather couch with a glass of wine in her hand. Aria was to the left of her, and the two women were having a nice, quiet evening in together. Madelyn, Chloe and Caden were out with Ezra, but neither Aria nor Hanna knew where they were.

"I haven't had a night like this in so long," Aria sighed happily. She readjusted her feet, which were lying over Hanna's lap, and smiled. "It feels so good."

Hanna nodded. "I know. Me and Caleb haven't had a night without Maddie for ages."

"I love Chloe and Caden so much, but it wold be nice to have an evening alone. They're both just so loud and outgoing!" Aria let out a hiccup in amongst her laughs. She stared down at her glass of red, glare at it for a moment, and then decided she'd had enough so put it on the wooden table beside her. "So, have you decided what you're going to do about the job?"

The blonde groaned and shook her head slowly. "Nope." She took a long sip of her drink and finished it, so handed it to Aria, who proceeded to put it by her own on the table. "I really don't think I'll be able to do the job well enough."

"But Han, Kyra obviously saw some potential in you otherwise she wouldn't have asked you," the small brunette replied. Hanna shrugged, unconvinced. She'd had this exact conversation with Caleb just hours earlier, and it had been just as unhelpful as this one was turning out to be. "I'm sure you'll do great, anyway."

"I'm pretty certain Kyra has high expectations and I just can't fulfil them. It wouldn't be fair to her if I took the job. Not after her last designer quit on her."

Aria wasn't sure what to say. It was clear Hanna had her mind pretty set on not taking the job, and Hanna could definitely be stubborn at times — as she had learned through their years of being friends — so the brunette didn't know what else to say to her friend. The two women sat watching the rest of The Notebook in silence. For the first time since watching the movie 10 years ago, Hanna didn't cry. She may have teared up when Noah and Allie died at the end, but no tears actually fell.

When the blond looked over and saw Aria raw-eyed and red-nosed, she wandered why _she_ wasn't crying. There had never been a time when Hanna had not cried at her favorite movie. How odd.

Aria sniffled and rubbed her nose before standing up and clearing her throat. As she shuffled over to the kitchen, with the two wine glasses in hand, she asked, "Do you want something to eat?"

Hanna took a moment to think. She didn't _feel_ hungry. But Hanna _never ever_ said no to food. Although, just thinking about it was making her feel nauseous. After a big lunch which was made up of a meaty burger with fries and onion rings, followed by a huge chocolate sundae, Hanna had no room left for anymore food. "I'm good."

"Are you sure? I can make something light," Aria suggested. She had her head buried in the fridge and pulled out a bottle of water for herself. Without verbally asking, she held up one for Hanna, with her left eyebrow raised, and Hanna nodded. Aria threw it across the adjoining living room straight onto the couch.

"I'm not hungry."

Late that evening, Ezra burst through the door with a very excitable Madelyn and Chloe. His son, Caden, was fast asleep in his arms and Hanna couldn't help but sigh to herself. Caden was hands down the cutest little boy Hanna had ever seen — although that was in a close tie with Spencer and Toby's twin boys, Ethan and Dylan, who were equally as cute.

The two toddlers ran through the lounge and started grabbing at anything: magazines, books, toys. For a minute, Hanna and Aria stood back in amazement as neither had ever seen their daughters in such a state. When that minute was up, they both jumped into action and got a firm hold of each little girl.

Madelyn was caught up in Hanna's arms, but was wriggling to be set free. She was kicking her mother's legs, laughing and giggling hysterically. "Go, go!" she exclaimed, trying to break Hanna's hold. The blond heaved her daughter in her arms and forced her way through to the bedroom she'd been staying in. As she did so, Hanna could hear Aria attempting to do the same with Chloe.

Hanna forcefully laid Maddie down on the bed and turned around to quickly grab some pyjamas. 10 seconds later, she turned back to find the two-year-old rooting through her expensive Givenchy purse. "Madelyn Ava, what the hell do you think you're doing?" Hanna yelled, making the infant jump. She bent down and picked Madelyn up, reattempting to get her into bed. This time, Hanna made sure she didn't let go.

After what felt like years of trying to get the reluctant toddler to sleep, Hanna dragged herself into the Fitz's living room. Aria, who was looking shattered, sat on the same couch she'd sat on with hanna earlier, and Ezra sat on the chair opposite. Aria was glaring at her husband. Clearly she'd asked the question Hanna was wandering.

"Why would you take them to an ice-cream parlour this late at night?" the brunette suddenly spat. She had her arms crossed over her chest, and Hanna was subtly slid in and joined her on the couch.

Ezra was looking rather sheepish, and it almost made Hanna laugh. In a quiet and embarrassed voice, the former teacher mumbled, "Well they both wanted ice-cream and wouldn't give up until I said yes. What else was I supposed to do with them?"

"Take them to a park, maybe?" Hanna piped up. She was just as angry at Aria.

"I tried that! They just kept begging to go, so I gave in. It's easier to give in!" The two women were giving Ezra death glares, and he was even feeling intimated. "You should try having all three of the at once! It's tough. And there were two of them asking and they even gave me their pouty face."

Aria tutted. "Ezra, did you see the state of them when you all came inside? They were tearing the place up!"

"It's just a sugar rush. It was always going to die down eventually."

"Yeah, eventually," the blonde muttered. "Madelyn has never been that bad before. What kind of ice-cream did you give her?"

Ezra shrugged and looked away. "It was a birthday cake one or something."

Hanna and Aria simultaneously rolled their eyes at each other. "You're insane," Hanna said.

The next morning, Hanna awoke to a very tired Madelyn. It was like she was hungover: she couldn't be bothered to do anything; she kept pointing to her head as if it were hurting. Hanna didn't sympathise with the two-year-old. "You shouldn't have asked Uncle Ezra to let you have it then," was all she kept replying with. Madelyn didn't like that answer and groaned loudly.

"Mama," she cried as Hanna viciously shoved a top over her head. "Stop! Ouch!"

"Madelyn, be quiet," the mother said firmly. She continued with what she was doing and then moved onto putting the skirt on. She pulled it up, asking Madelyn to wriggle into it as she did so. Hanna didn't have the time to undo and redo all the buttons up. After finishing with the toddler's clothes, Hanna grabbed the hair brush and tried to detangle Maddie's blonde curls. Madelyn was not a fan, and began pulling away. "Stop it, Maddie! You need your hair brushed."

"No," Madelyn replied. She gave a big pull and ran across the bedroom, giggling. Hanna sighed, before getting up from her crouching position to follow the young girl. Madelyn darted back, and started making a game out of it. Hanna was no where near as amused as she was. In fact, Hanna was ready to just give up.

"Stop being such a diva and come here Madelyn," she said, almost pleading. "I need to do your hair!"

"No," Maddie repeated.

"Don't say no to me." Hanna tried to grab her daughter's arm, but she wasn't fast enough and Madelyn raced away. Despite being two, that little girl could _definitely_ run. "Madelyn, if you don't come here now, I'll tell Daddy you're being bad and he'll tell you off."

Maddie suddenly stopped and her head perked up. Her jaw trembled and a look of nerves washed over her. Hanna didn't know why she didn't use that tactic sooner. Madelyn adored her father, and would do whatever he said whenever he said it. She looked up to that mad more than Hanna could have ever imagined. And Madelyn's worst fear was to be told off by Caleb. "Daddy," she wailed.

The blonde felt bad: she didn't mean to make her daughter cry, she just wanted her to do what she wanted. "Oh baby," Hanna sighed. She crept over to her and engulfed Madelyn in a hug. "I won't tell Daddy if you let me brush your hair, okay?"

"K," the small child gulped.

Once she was obedient, it didn't take long for Maddie's hair to be sorted. Hanna decided she wanted to braid it, and got the long front strands of her hair and pulled it back into a braid. The toddler was now as happy as ever and ran down the hallway the second Hanna opened the door. Hanna followed, but was slowed down by the amount of luggage she was heaving: 3 suitcases, a heavy purse, Madelyn's carry-on bag, and her laptop.

"Are you okay? Do you need some help?" Aria asked as she saw her friend struggle.

"Nope," Hanna stammered. "I'm good." She dropped all the bags on the floor and let out a breath of relief. "Are you still alright to look after Maddie again while I'm out?"

The brunette nodded and grinned. Hearing her name, Madelyn came bounding over and stopped at Aria's feet. Aria rubbed the top of Maddie's head and said, "We'll have lot's of fun, won't we? But this time, we won't let Uncle Ezra look after you!"

"Unc Ez," Maddie exclaimed. She was jumping up and down and had a huge grin on her face. She then turned to her mom and waved. "Bye Mama."

"Okay then," Hanna laughed. "I guess I'm not wanted." She bent down and kissed her daughter's forehead. "Bye bye, bug. Mommy loves you!"

Almost an hour later, a typical yellow New York cab pulled up outside of Kyra's store. Before even opening the door of the car, Hanna's hands were sweating and she could feel her heart thumping in her chest. She was so nervous. She had no idea how Kyra would react to what she was going to tell her. She had no idea whether Kyra would ever forgive her. Everything was so unpredictable.

"Hanna, you're back," Kyra said as Hanna walked through the door. It taken a good 5 minutes — and the cab driver asking twice for Hanna to leave — before Hanna finally bucked the courage to go inside. "What happened the other day? I never heard from you after you suddenly left."

The blonde felt her cheeks burn. "Yeah, um, I'm sorry about that."

"It's fine. Is everything okay?" Kyra had a warm smile on her face, which was not helping Hanna's guilt. Hanna looked away, avoiding her college friend's contact. "Hanna?"

"I need to, uh, kind of, uh, tell you something," she stuttered. "It's about the, um, job."

Kyra's eyes widened and her smile faded in a matter of seconds. "Go on," she said slowly. Hanna nodded, although didn't carry on. She picked at the slightly ripped edge of her purse, making the rip worse. "Are you going to say anything?"

"Right! Oh yeah. So, I…uh, kind of, um, can't do it." Hanna's words came out unintentionally like a question. She shot a quick glance at Kyra, who looked dumbfounded.

"Can't do what?" she asked, although the answer was pretty obvious. And she knew it.

"The job," the blonde mumbled. Why was Kyra making her spell it out? It was hard enough as it was, without having to explain everything simply. Hanna just wanted to say it and leave; get it over with. "I'm so sorry."

Kyra started slowly nodding. "And why can't you do the job anymore? You seemed pretty happy with it when I asked you."

"Well, I just…I don't know. When you were showing me around the other day, it just hit me: all the work, the preciseness of every gown. I'm not a wedding dress designer. I never have been, I never want to be. It's just not what I ever set out to do." Hanna saw the hurt in her friend's eyes and immediately regretted being so blunt. "I didn't mean to upset you. I thought that when I took the job, I'd be able to get my head around it and just…well do it. But I can't. And it was wrong of me to take up your offer. I'm so sorry, Ky."

When Kyra didn't answer, Hanna decided it would be best if she just left, so tried to subtly back out of the store. The fresh air hit her the second the door opened and she couldn't help but breathe a breath of relief. _At least that's over with_ , she thought to herself.

A cab suddenly pulled up, clearly seeing Hanna standing on the edge of the sidewalk. She took no time hopping in and telling the driver where to go, and as he started moving the car, Hanna pulled out her phone. She wandered who to tell first: Caleb or Aria. Obviously it would be Caleb.

 _I did it. No more job in New York,_ she typed. As she clicked send, Hanna felt a small feeling of sadness. She had been quite excited to move to New York again. Her college years had been spent buried deep inside projects and assignments and work — she'd had no time to take in the Big Apple.

It didn't take long for a reply to come from Caleb. Hanna's phone buzzed in her lap and as pulled it up, she read the text. _Are you okay?_

Was she okay? She didn't know. Of course she was upset about not being able to move anymore, but it wasn't like Hanna was desperate for the job.

 _I guess I'm okay. I miss u babe. Can't wait to see u later._

Shortly after sending her final text, the cab pulled up outside the Fitz's apartment block and dropped Hanna off. She thanked the driver through the window and proceeded to walk inside. She gave an acknowledging nod to the doorman as she passed through and carried on through to the elevator, which was actually working, unlike many times before.

"Is that Mommy?" Hanna heard Aria say as she shoved her key in the lock. The blonde opened the door and let it swing as she burst in and gave her daughter a hug.

"Mama!" Madelyn exclaimed. She could barely breathe through Hanna's jacket, but managed to let out a muffle exclamation. Hanna kissed the top of her blonde locks as the toddler ran off to play again.

Aria smiled and stood up from the couch, where it looked like she had been reading to Madelyn and Chloe. She wandered over to her friend, who was now shutting the front door. "How did it go?" the brunette asked. Her tone of voice was sympathetic, which Hanna didn't like. She'd never been one for liking it when people felt sorry for her.

Hanna shrugged and dropped her purse by the couch. "It was okay. She seemed surprised. And upset. But that's what I was expecting."

"Oh Han," Aria sighed. She stroked the blonde's arm and smiled. "We won't get to have any playdates now you're not moving here!"

"What a shame," Hanna teased, laughing. The petite brunette gave a fake death glare, but laughed along too. "I should probably make sure all my stuff is gone from the bedroom." She headed through to the guest room and took a quick glance around. Once happy everything of hers or Madelyn's had was one, she joined the others back in the living room.

"Are you sure you don't want me to drive you to the airport? I'm happy to do it," Aria said as the blonde arrived. She really didn't want Hanna to go again as she never saw her 4 best friends. It had been so nice to finally spend time with one of them again; she never wanted it to end. "Ezra will be fine here with the kids. Well kind of. I hope. Just let me drive you?"

Hanna raised her eyebrow, reluctant to disrupt anything Aria had planned. "I can just call a cab. It's fine."

"Han, let me drive you to the stupid airport."

3 hours later, Aria was wrapping her short arms around Hanna's back. The two women, along with Madelyn at their feet, were in the middle of the airport. Hanna and Maddie were due to go through the security, but the hug was taking longer than anticipated.

"I'm going to miss you," Hanna said as she rested her head on Aria's shoulder. "These past few days have been amazing."

"I'm going to miss you to!" Aria replied.

Hanna pulled back and started flapping her hand in front of her face. "God, I'm going to cry." She let out an uneasy laugh and smiled at her best friend. "We only live, like, 3 hours apart. We should really see each other more often."

"I'll come and visit Rosewood soon!" Aria exclaimed loudly. Hanna chuckled and grabbed her daughter's hand. Madelyn was rather droopy: she had not been happy when she was dragged away from her own best friend, Chloe, and had cried the whole way to the airport, and most of the time they were queuing to hand over the luggage. "Bye, Maddie. I love you!"

After dragging Maddie around DutyFree, and having to wait for what felt like hours to board, Hanna was now sitting next to her daughter in unusually comfy airplane seats. She took a sip of soda and helped Maddie with her water, and then stared out of the window. The beautiful colors of the sky shone brightly across the clouds. It was so photogenic Hanna couldn't help but snap a shot on her IPhone.

"Mama, Mama," Madelyn said, poking her mom's arm. Hanna looked down and saw the toddler pointing at her phone. "Me pay?"

"You want to play on Mommy's phone?"

Madelyn nodded excitedly and beamed. "Yep."

Hanna could hardly say no. Madelyn had been so upset earlier, but she had suddenly perked up, and if she were to not allow her to play on the phone, it would only go and upset her again. Hanna would rather not have a screaming fit in the middle of the flight.

"Fine," the blonde sighed. She clicked on the specially-downloaded-apps-for-Maddie folder and tapped on her favorite game. "But you have to promise you'll be very careful with it, okay? Mommy's phone is expensive."

"Poms," Madelyn replied, already beginning to be engrossed it the game. Hanna took that as her saying "promise" and turned back to the window. But every so often, she'd warily look out of the corner of her eye just to check everything was fine.

 **A/N — ooh so this is kinda long, right? well it is for me anyway.**

 **would y'all like longer chapters in the future? let me know!**

 **i hope everyone liked this chapter! so hanna is officially not taking the job! haleb aren't moving to new york aw :(( or are they ;))**

 **5 REVIEWS FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER!**


	6. Chapter 6

Caleb stood anxiously waiting for his wife and daughter to arrive. Their plane was due any moment, and he couldn't wait to see their faces again. It had been 3 days too long.

"Caleb!" a voice called out from behind. Caleb shot around and a grin immediately formed when he saw the blonde he'd been missing so much. The brunette started walking forward, but it soon turned into a run. His arms automatically opened and Hanna jumped into them. Madelyn, too, jumped up and wrapped her legs around her father's hips, despite Hanna being right there. The small family of three embraced in a long, warming hug in the middle of the airport. "I've missed you so much," Hanna whispered as she nuzzled her head into Caleb's neck. She pulled back and started repeatedly kissing Caleb's lips with short, sweet kisses.

"I've missed you too." Caleb grinned at Hanna before looking down to his daughter, who was holding onto him with all her might. He bounced her up, readjusting Madelyn's position. "And I've missed my Maddie bug _sooo_ much."

"Miss oo!" Madelyn exclaimed. "Love Daddy!"

"I love you too, Maddie!" Caleb replied. He kissed his little girl's forehead and gripped her tight. He'd missed cuddling with her. He'd missed reading her stories at night. "You and Mommy aren't allowed to leave Daddy and Bella again, okay?"

"Believe me, we don't want to leave you again. It sucks being without you, babe," Hanna said. She stretched her arm out to hold Caleb's hand, but he wrapped his own arm around hers instead. Hanna was pulled in close and the couple, along with Maddie on Caleb's side, wandered over to the baggage claim to collect the luggage.

2 hours later, Hanna was curled up on her couch with Bella on her lap, Maddie snuggled into her arm and Caleb still with his arm around her. They were sitting in a calming silence, watching Maddie's favorite film: Frozen. She had requested to watch it on the airplane ride, and Hanna promised her they would all watch it when they arrived home. It had to be the hundredth time Hanna had watched it, but she never seemed to get bored. In fact, she was even singing along to the songs. Caleb, on the other hand, was not enjoying it. The first three times of watching it was enough for him.

As the credits rolled down the screen an hour later, Caleb cleared his throat before standing up and heading to the kitchen. He reached into the cupboard and pulled out a bag of chips, along with a couple of pieces of candy for Madelyn. The toddler squealed when she saw what her dad was bringing back, but Hanna tutted. Madelyn was only ever allowed candy on special occasions — which was Hanna's idea. She did not want a repeat of the other evening when Ezra bought her back on a sugar high. That was Hanna's worst nightmare.

"Caleb!" Hanna hissed with one eyebrow raised. "You know how she gets with candy."

"She'll be fine," Caleb reassured. Although, he didn't look too convinced when he glanced suspiciously at the toddler who was now chomping away happily. "You'll be fine, right Mads?"

"Candy candy candy." Between mouthfuls, Madelyn repeated her favorite word again and again. To Hanna's horror, Maddie's first word had not been Mommy or even Daddy. Nope, it had been candy. That was quickly followed by her second word: sim — which was Maddie's version of swim. To say Hanna was horrified was an understatement. The first time mother had spent every day from the age of 6 months trying to teach Madelyn to say Mommy. It clearly hadn't worked. Even to this day, neither Hanna nor Caleb know how or why their daughter's first word was candy.

"See. She's already getting hyper and she's only had a small bit," Hanna grumbled. She was tempted to take the rest away, but it wasn't worth the screaming and crying fits that were inevitably going to follow. Instead, she decided she'd let Caleb deal with Madelyn when her sugar high would later come crashing down.

"Babe, do you want anything to eat?" Caleb said as he munched away at his chips. "I can order in if you want."

"I'm good. I'll grab something from the refrigerator later," the blonde replied. Bella suddenly jumped from her lap, startling Hanna. The dog trotted across the kitchen floor, with her tiny paws tapping on the tiles, over to her food. Hanna couldn't help but take a quick look to see if Caleb had been keeping up with all her food requirements. Much to her relief, he had.

"Can we pretty please not watch any more Disney movie?" Caleb begged to Madelyn. She looked up cheekily at her dad and giggled before hopping off the couch, over to the where all the movies were stacked up high and pulled one out. She came wandering back over and handed the case to Caleb, who was not looking impressed. "Really Maddie? You had to pick Ariel? That's my second hated movie _ever_."

Smirking, Hanna asked, "What's your first?"

"Frozen," he replied bluntly. "Hey Madelyn, isn't it your bedtime?"

Madelyn's eyes widened and her smile drooped. It looked like she was about to cry with the amount of tears brimming in her eyes. Hanna picked up her phone to check the time and gave her husband a death glare when she saw he was lying. "Caleb don't do that! Look, she's about to cry."

"It's not my fault she hates going to bed so much. Although, I really don't get why. She seems to love it in the morning. Especially our bed."

"She just doesn't want to leave Mommy. Do you, Maddie?" Hanna said, poking her daughter's side. Madelyn let out a yelp and giggled. "Because you love Mommy so much! Much more than Daddy."

"Hey, that's not fair," Caleb remarked, frowning. "Everyone knows Maddie loves me more. Even Em and Aria agree."

With furrowed eyebrows, Hanna looked over at the brunette. "When did you ask Em and Aria who Madelyn loves more?"

"It's a secret." Caleb turned away with his nose stuck up in the air. He had a big grin on his face, unlike Hanna. She was not impressed.

Two can play at this game. "Fine then. If you don't tell me, you'll be going to bed highly unsatisfied."

"You're immature," Caleb answered.

Hanna shrugged proudly, smirking. "I don't care."

Caleb let out a longwinded groan and sigh before facing his wife. "Fine, I'll tell you." That got Hanna's attention. She looked over at him and smiled, feeling rather smug. "It was the last time we all got together. You know, it was a couple of months ago at Alison's place. Anyway, you had gone off somewhere with Maddie and Spencer for some reason, so we were all talking about our kids and whatever. The conversation of which kid loves which parent more came up and everyone voted that Maddie loves me more."

"Those bitches," Hanna muttered to herself, half-jokingly. She _did_ actually agree with them, much to her despair, but was never going to admit that to Caleb. She wanted Maddie to love her Mommy more, but that didn't look very likely.

For the rest of the evening, Hanna had a frown on her face. She sulking, and acting like Madelyn did whenever she was told no. When Caleb arrived back in the living room after putting the toddler to bed — which didn't take as long as Hanna had expected — she was still ignoring him. Hanna had also decided she would ignore her friends the next time they called, FaceTimed or texted. It served them right.

"Babe, come on. It was just a joke. Maddie obviously loves us equally," Caleb said as he joined her back on the couch. He placed his arm on her shoulder, but Hanna shook it away. "Hanna, lighten up! You know it was only a joke." Hanna shuffled around on the couch and turned away so she was shunning him. "Really Han? You're going to shun me?"

Hanna continued to ignore him, and it seemed like Caleb had gotten the message as he moved over to the armchair to the left. It wasn't until he put on a TV show Hanna _despised,_ when she finally turned back and started talking. "We are not watching Game of Thrones."

"So you're talking to me now?"

The blonde ignored her husband's response and jumped over to his chair to snatch the remote from his hands. As she retrieved it, she gave a little victory dance. That was an instant mistake, as Caleb jumped up and grabbed the remote back. Hanna swung her arm out in an attempt to take it back but failed.

"Caleb," she moaned. "Please give it to me!"

The brunette stopped moving and held it up high. "Are you going to stop ignoring and shunning me?"

Hanna shrugged. "Maybe." Caleb raised an eyebrow, at which Hanna sighed and said, "Fine. I'll stop ignoring and shunning you. Now give me the remote!"

Caleb, with a big smirk on his face, tilted his head to the right and thought for a moment. A few seconds passed before he said anything. "Um…no." Before Hanna knew it, Caleb had darted passed her and was now in the kitchen, waving the remote in the air. Hanna gave her husband her biggest — and what she thought cutest — pout, hoping it would persuade him. She groaned loudly when Caleb shook his head.

"Caleb, please," she cried. "I just want to watch Dancing With the Stars!" Hanna said it a little too loudly, and suddenly remembered Madelyn was only upstairs. In a whisper, she repeated, "Caleb, please." When Caleb didn't give in, Hanna gave up. "Forget it. I'm going to bed."

As Hanna turned around to head towards the stairs, Caleb grabbed her arm and finally looked serious. He turned over Hanna's palm so it was facing up and rested the remote for the TV in it, although he was still holding one end. "Here you go. You can watch Dancing With the Stars."

"Really?" Hanna perked up. She had been taking this intended joke a lot more seriously than Caleb had expected.

"Nope," Caleb replied. His smirk returned and he even let out a loud laugh as Hanna stormed off. She thumped up the stairs and down the hallway, not even caring at this point that she might awake Madelyn. The blonde entered the bedroom and changed into her nightwear — she actually got changed faster than ever before.

At about 9:30 that night — 2 hours after their "argument" — Caleb headed up to their bedroom to check on his wife. He found her fast asleep in a ball on their bed, and couldn't help but smile. He had started to feel bad about the TV remote conversation — Hanna had been more hurt than he'd intended. Caleb couldn't help but think how much Hanna did overreact. It was _just_ a remote. She always had Dancing With the Stars on the DVR anyway, so it wasn't a big deal if she missed one episode, as she could always catch up the next day. Clearly she didn't think that though.

Although he did wait until his show had finished, he had decided to come and apologise. But now, seeing her sleeping, he didn't want to have to wake her.

 _Better to just do it in the morning,_ Caleb thought.

The next morning, Hanna awoke feeling quite refreshed. She heard distant giggles and laughs and after patting the space next to her to feel for Caleb, figured he was downstairs with Madelyn. Hanna was surprised to see the time read 10:37. She never got to sleep in that late; it was definitely a rarity.

Hanna took it slow as she slid out of bed and padded to her closet where her robe was hanging. After tying it around her waist, she headed down the stairs and into the kitchen, where she found Caleb laughing as he flipped a pancake, and Maddie spluttering her pancake out as she giggled.

"This is a surprise," Hanna announced as she shuffled in. Caleb turned around and grinned, before turning back to the frying pan. The blonde wandered across the tiled floor and stroked her daughter's hair as she sat on the stool next to her. Hanna kissed Madelyn's head and then grabbed this month's _Elle._ She had just began to flick through when Caleb clanked through the cupboards and pulled out a china plate. He proceeded to slide the pancake onto the plate, squirted a creative pattern of syrup on, sprinkled the perfect amount of blueberries on top, and then handed it to Hanna. She smiled as she received it, and breathed in the heavily smell. Pancakes had to be her absolute favorite breakfast meal ever. "This smells amazing. Thank you."

"I'm sorry about yesterday," Caleb said, walking back to the pan. He brought it over to the sink and smiled warmly at his wife.

"No, don't be sorry. _I'm_ the one who's sorry. That remote thing was stupid; I don't know why I acted like that," Hanna replied. "I love you."

"I love you too, babe," the brunette answered. Whilst waiting for the water to warm so he could wash up, he looked at his daughter and asked, "So Maddie, what do you want to do today?"

A sudden thought popped into Hanna's head and she made an "Ooh," sound. "I need to tell my mom and Ted about the job and everything."

"Oh yeah." Caleb had been thinking a lot about New York since Hanna and Madelyn had arrived home the previous day. Both he and Hanna had been so excited about moving back, and both couldn't wait to bring Maddie. He couldn't help but think of what a shame it was that it wasn't going to happen anymore. "I wish things had turned out differently."

Hanna sighed. "I know." It turns out, she had been feeling the exact same way. "Can't we still move there?" She was _not_ expecting those words to come out of her mouth.

Caleb was just as taken by surprise as Hanna was. "What?"

"I don't know…I didn't mean to say that out loud. Forget it."

"No," the brunette said, holding his finger up. "Why don't we? I mean I'm sure you can find a temporary job until a better one comes along. And it shouldn't be too hard for me to get one. In fact, I'd already found one before."

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I am," Caleb laughed. "What do you think?"

Hanna needed no time to think of her answer. "Yes! Oh my God, we're moving to New York!" She got up hastily, skirted around the table and ran into her husband's arms. Madelyn was sitting with a very confused look on her face. She had no idea whatsoever what her parents were on about. "Here that, Maddie? We're going to live in New York!"

"New York!" the toddler exclaimed. Although her speech was no where near perfect, New York was one thing Madelyn had learned to say perfectly. "New York, yay!"

"When—when are we moving?" Hanna asked, as multiple serious questions popped into her head. "And do we want an apartment or house? Wait, are we just going to get that apartment in TriBeCa we had to pull out of?"

Caleb, laughing, placed his hands on Hanna's shoulders. "Babe, calm down. We can work that out later. But right now, I think we should go out to the park with Bella. Maddie, do you want to go to the park?"

The little girl nodded enthusiastically and attempted to get herself off of the stool she was sat on, but was unable to. Hanna chuckled and wandered round to help her, and the second she jumped off, Maddie went in search of the dog.

Two hours later, the young family were happily strolling through Rosewood's local park. Coincidentally, Ashley and Ted were walking their two puppies: a pair of Schnauzers called Dot and Dudley. Hanna's mom had gotten the puppet only four months ago, but Hanna had fallen in love with them. She was lucky she already had her own dog, because if not, she would have been out like a shot to get one.

"Hanna!" Ashley called. She had recognised Madelyn running around a couple's legs, looked up and then realised the couple were her own family. The blonde looked up and grinned when she saw her mother waving. Hand in hand with Caleb, she walked a little faster and as she reached Ashley, the redhead said, "You never told me you were back from New York."

"I know, I'm sorry. I got distracted with things. How have you guys been?" Hanna directed the question at both her mom and stepfather, but looked at Ted as she asked.

The pastor nodded whilst saying, "We've been good. How was New York? Did the interview go well?"

Hanna looked over at Caleb, unsure of what to answer. Considering they had agreed they were still going through with the move to the Big Apple, Hanna didn't know whether to explain the whole story, or just say it briefly. "It was alright." She went with the brief option.

Everyone started naturally taking a slow walk across the grass, with the three dogs pulling in front and Madelyn chasing the birds. "Did you guys get that apartment you asked for?" Ashley asked. Hanna had totally forgotten she'd told her mom about that.

"Um, we pulled out. We just felt it wasn't quite the one," she bluffed. "We're still looking though."

Ted turned to his son-in-law and asked, "Caleb, have you found a job yet?" Hanna felt that question was about to lead to a boring conversation she'd rather not be a part of, so decided to have a separate one with her mom.

"Maddie's getting so big!" Ashley remarked as the two women separated from the men. Hanna re-wrapped Bella's leash around her hand to stop the dog pulling so hard, and nodded.

"She's growing way too fast. It's not fair," she groaned. It was true. Just a week before heading to New York, Hanna was playing with her two-year-old daughter and as Madelyn reached up to grab her favorite book from the shelf, noticed how tall she was getting. Having a toddler was definitely full of bittersweet moments, and Hanna had not prepared herself for them.

"Are you thinking of having any more?"

That question took the blonde a little by surprise. "Um…" Now she thought about it, Hanna realised she and Caleb had never had that talk. She shrugged. "I don't know."

"I wish you would," the redhead said. _Okaaaay then,_ Hanna thought to herself. "You're my only daughter and so far, we only have one grandchild."

 **A/N — a little bit of a {pathetic} cliffhanger for you ;)) what will hanna say to her mom's remark? does she want more kids ;))))))))**

 **im super excited for tonights episode, although spaleb makes me want to throw up. as much as i hate to admit it, hanna and jordan are so cute together! although definitely not as cute as haleb because they are endgame always okay.**

 **let me know what you thought of this chapter! 5 REVIEWS FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER**


	7. Chapter 7

Ashley's comment lingered in Hanna's head for the rest of the day. Caleb soon realised something was up with his wife, but when he asked her, she brushed it off. Hanna decided she didn't want to have _that_ conversation with Caleb, as she thought it would be very, very awkward. They'd never had a talk about having a baby before. And Hanna didn't think it would be fun to have one now.

"It's nothing," she had replied with. Caleb wasn't going to interrogate her on it, so shrugged and left it. The family had finished their walk with a short play in the park with Madelyn. It was cut short when Madelyn announced she felt "funny", as she put it. Hanna looked at Caleb and Caleb looked at Hanna, both as worried as each other. They immediately headed home as fast as possible, where Hanna proceeded to lay her daughter on the couch and pursued her to sleep.

An hour later, the toddler was still passed out on the couch. Hanna was sitting on Caleb's lap, and they were watching re-runs of a favorite show of theirs: OITNB. Caleb was twiddling a strand of Hanna's blonde locks around his finger whilst focused on the TV screen. He was so zoned out, he didn't notice when Madelyn started moving around. Hanna did though, and quickly jumped from his lap to next to her.

"Hey, bug," she whispered, gently pushing a piece of hair from the toddler's eyes. "How are you feeling?"

Madelyn didn't reply, but from the color of her face, Hanna didn't suspect very well. Maddie had never been ill before — thankfully — so she didn't know how to react, Hanna didn't know how to react, and Caleb didn't know how to react. All Hanna knew was that she couldn't handle it when someone was sick near her; it made her feel nauseous herself. How was she supposed to handle her own daughter was ill?

"Do you want Mommy to get you some water, baby?" Hanna asked softly. The little girl didn't answer, but Hanna gave a nod to Caleb, who then jumped up and headed straight for the kitchen. He grabbed one of his daughter's bottles from the cupboard and filled it up. He brought it back to the couch and handed it to his wife. She stretched her arm out, offering to Madelyn, who shook her head. "Come on, Mads. It'll make you feel better. I promise."

It didn't take much to persuade the young child to drink, as she soon gulped it down. "Mama," Maddie groaned once she'd finished. Hanna looked at her, growing more and more concerned. Saying Hanna was worried about Madelyn feeling unwell was an understatement.

When Madelyn was a baby, Hanna would worry every time she'd let out a tiny cough, or sneeze, or even a cry. Every cry meant something was majorly wrong to Hanna, which definitely took her by surprise. She never expected to be one of _those_ mothers.

"Do you want to go to bed?" Caleb asked, leaning over his wife. The toddler had a permanent frown on her face, but nodded sadly. The worried dad nodded himself, before scooping his little girl up in his arms and carrying her up the stairs. Hanna followed behind, but not before re-filling the bottle up with more water. As she joined Caleb in Madelyn's bedroom, she saw the child's face and felt her heart ache. As much as she hated being ill herself, Hanna would much rather she be feeling ill rather than her baby girl. It must have been some sort of doomed magic of some type, because no later than Hanna wished she could take Madelyn's sickness away, she had an odd feeling in her stomach. She darted to the bathroom and proceeded to empty the contents of her stomach out into the toilet bowl.

"Han?" Caleb called from Maddie's bedroom. "Babe, are you okay?"

 _That was weird,_ Hanna thought. That nausea had come on so quickly. Unless, she had been feeling unwell before, and she had just ignored it. She had no time to think about it, as another wave of nausea washed over her and she ducked her head back down.

After settling Maddie to sleep, Caleb rushed over to check on his wife. As he hurried to the bathroom, he couldn't help but think how he was now going to deal with _two_ sick people. This day was getting stranger and stranger. Neither Hanna nor Maddie had felt ill this morning, but yet now, only hours later, they were both sick. He just hoped and prayed he wouldn't catch whatever it was.

"Babe," the brunette hushed as he knelt by Hanna. He pulled back her hair, and even kissed her head, completely forgetting about germs for a moment.

Hanna felt slightly better after what felt like hours, and lifted her head up. She gave Caleb a strained smile and leant back against the cold, tiled walls. "Thanks," she mumbled.

"What happened?" Caleb asked, concerned. "You should have said if you didn't feel well."

'I didn't feel unwell though," Hanna moaned. "I was just thinking about how I wished Maddie wasn't ill, and then I suddenly felt nauseous. This is weird and horrible and I feel so ill."

Caleb smiled warmly and started to get up, grabbing Hanna's arm as he did so. He carefully pulled her up onto her feet, and then took a gentle grip of both shoulders when she was up. Without telling Hanna what he was doing, Caleb lead his wife down out of the door, down the hallway, and then into their bedroom. Hanna collapsed onto the bed and sighed loudly.

"Now sleep," Caleb ordered. He turned towards the door, but was stopped when Hanna called out for him.

"Babe," she said. "Can you get me some water please? Oh, and maybe a mint?"

Just as Caleb nodded, there was a loud cry from the next bedroom along. Caleb knew this was going to be a long day.

Late than evening, Caleb sat on the floor next to his daughter's bed. She was lying on her side, facing him as he read her favorite story. As he finished, Caleb gently closed the book and smiled at her.

"Are you feeling any better, bug?" he whispered. Madelyn shook her head sadly, and then brushed the hair out of her eyes with the back of her hand. Caleb moved the last few strands to behind her shoulders before kissing her forehead. "Are you tired yet?" Once again, Maddie shook her head. "Mommy and Daddy get sad when you're sick, Maddie. You're not allowed to be sick!"

The toddler attempted a laugh, but it ended with her coughing. The brunette stroked his daughter's cheek to soothe her, and noticed her eyes slowly start drooping. "Do you know what we're going to do when you and Mommy are all better?" he whispered. "We're going to go to the park! And we'll play on the…swings! And the slide! And maybe we'll bring Bella so we can chase her around!" Caleb's calm, quiet voice had sent the little girl into a soft sleep. Caleb smiled to himself as he got up, careful not to make a peep or creak.

He took one last glance at Madelyn as he stopped to turn the light switch off, and sighed. Caleb could see how pale she looked; how ill; how tired. He just wanted her and Hanna to be better again, even though they'd only been sick for less than a day. He would have wished for him to be ill instead of them, but since Hanna did it and suddenly threw up, he decided he'd better not. Sometimes, superstition was enough.

2 days later, Caleb was still on nurse duty. It seemed like Madelyn was getting back to her usual self — after 24 hours of what seemed like constant crying. She'd been feeling so ill, it pained Caleb. He missed his bubbly, lively two-year-old. It didn't help that he was looking after his sick child by himself.

It looked like Hanna had been struck a lot worse by what Caleb had guessed was a sort-of flu. She hadn't had a moment of not feeling nauseous, and had spent most of the past couple of days in the bathroom. Caleb had never seen her thad bad before, and that broke his heart as much as Maddie's illness did.

Hanna was now on the couch, for the first time since being ill. She had a blanket draped over her legs, and Madelyn was cuddled into the side of her. They were watching a classic: Bambi. Caleb was busy making soup, although was pretty sure he wasn't doing too good. He wanted to make the first meal his wife and daughter could stomach a good one, but unfortunately, that wasn't looking very likely.

"Babe, are you nearly done?" Hanna called. She was finally sounded herself again, after being so ill she didn't want to talk. She breathed in the smell, and felt her stomach rumble. "It smells so good!"

"Really? It looks disgusting."

Minutes later, Caleb was handing a bowl to the blonde, who gratefully received it. She took in a deep breath and smiled before taking a small sip off the spoon. "It's so good."

"Well you would say that," Caleb muttered. "You haven't eaten anything in days."

Thankfully, it only took 12 more hours for Hanna and Maddie to recover completely. Madelyn was back to her boisterous self, running around the house like a madman. Hanna was back to stressing about the move to New York. Caleb, on the other hand, was back to being —almost— stress-free. He no longer had to play nurse; no longer had to cook; and no longer had to clean.

Considering she had been cooped up for days, Madelyn was eager to get out of the house and head to the park. So that's what the family did. It was a good excuse for some much needed fresh air, and even Bella benefitted. The pup chased the toddler around Rosewood's local park for hours as Hanna and Caleb happily watched from a bench.

The blonde slid her hand into her husband's, who then pulled the combined hands onto his lap. "I'm so glad you're better," Caleb announced as he stared into the distance. Madelyn was now petting Bella, who was being surprisingly obedient. Normally, the Shih Tzu hated being whacked — which was Maddie's attempt at a stroke — by her.

"I'm glad I'm better too," Hanna replied. She smiled to herself as she watched her daughter and dog play happily, and maybe a little crazily, together. A sudden thought came to Hanna's mind and she immediately blurted it out, without thinking. "I found a house."

"What?" the brunette asked, completely taken by surprise.

"When I was stuck in bed yesterday, I decided to look online and I found a house. Well actually it's an apartment, not a house," she explained. "It's in Manhattan and it has amazing views, but it might be a teeny tiny bit expensive."

Caleb had heard those words thousands of times before. Usually they were used when he was being persuaded by his wife to let her get a pair of heels, or a new purse. He rolled his eyes jokingly and turned so he was facing her. "And how expensive is that?"

"It's, like, nearly $8000 a month." Caleb's eyes dramatically widened and he raised his eyebrows. "But it's so nice!"

"Han, you don't even have a job yet! How are we supposed to afford that on one income? It's impossible."

"Can I just show it to you? I promise you'll like it," Hanna begged. She gave her husband the best puppy eyes she could, hoping that'd work. Just like always, it did.

Back at the house, Hanna was sitting cross-legged on a stool, with Caleb hovering behind her. Madelyn was happily watching TV by herself, giggling away to the parts her parent's found _very_ un-funny.

Hanna scrolled through the listings for apartments until she came across the one. "Here we go." As she clicked on it, Caleb was immediately apartment was reasonably large, it had a great view — just like Hanna and said — and was in the ideal location. There was just one issue.

"Han, we can't afford that," the brunette moaned. "It just wouldn't work."

Hanna frowned and furrowed her eyebrows. She sighed loudly, letting her her husband know how frustrated she was. The way Hanna had worked it out, they _could_ afford it, if they just cut back on other things. Clearly Caleb wasn't on the same page. The blond looked up at her husband, pouting.

"Don't look at me like that, Hanna. We are not getting that apartment, okay?" There was a firm tone to Caleb's voice, but Hanna knew that he'd give in if she kept on pouting…eventually. It took a good 20 more minutes before he seemed to be close to coming around to the idea, and Hanna nearly squealed when Caleb asked if he could have another look.

"It is nice," he said slowly. "And it would be close to my work." Hanna gleamed with hope. "I suppose if you stopped buying new clothes every week, we could do it." At that, Hanna gave a faux-glare, but she didn't really care.

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?"

"We can put an offer in," Caleb confirmed. His wife's squeal was so high-pitched, it was just like one of those dog whistles. He was sure he heard dogs throughout the building start barking, along with Bella. "But _only_ an offer. If they continue to ask to much, we can't get it."

With a big, wide grin on her face, Hanna started jumping up and down whilst simultaneously trying to hug Caleb. In amongst her squealing, she exclaimed, "Thank you, thank you, that you!"

"Jesus Han. Calm down." Caleb was being strangled, and had to forcefully pull Hanna off from around his neck. "So, should we do it now?"

That evening, after Hanna had finally recovered from the starting of the process of buying her dream apartment in New York, she lay in bed, cuddled up to her husband. They were quietly and peacefully watching the TV that hung on the charcoal gray wall opposite, not saying a peep to each other. Madelyn was curled up at the end of the bed — which was her own choice — and was fast asleep. Her eyes fluttered every so often, indicating she was dreaming. Hanna hoped it was something happy and cute, like unicorns and rainbows.

"She's going to love it in New York," the blonde whispered as she rested her hand on Caleb's bare chest. Her hand rose and fell with every breath he took. "Especially since she'll be able to see Chloe all the time."

Caleb shook his head at the thought of his daughter and her best friend, Chloe. The two were more hyperactive than ever when together; it was definitely something he was not looking forward to. "Maybe we shouldn't tell her before we actually move. She'll go crazy."

Hanna nodded in agreement and focused back on the screen. She hadn't been watching for another 5 minutes when a thought popped into her head. "What if we get this apartment?"

The brunette was not following. "What about it? I thought that was what you wanted."

"Well it is. But we'll actually have to move all our things to New York and it's going to be really stressful." Since being unwell during the week, Hanna had felt even more stressed than usual. She had recovered from the illness, but still felt slightly odd at times. It didn't seem like she was completely back to normal yet, and the added stress of moving house might make that worse. "We can't do it on our own."

Caleb kissed the top of his wife's head before resting her palm on it. "We'll be fine. Everything will turn out just fine."

Hanna wasn't convinced and suddenly sat upright. She manoeuvred her body around so she was facing Caleb and looked ready to prove a point, although she wasn't. "But we'll need help. I mean, how is everything in this house going to fit in that apartment?"

"You were the one who wanted it!" the brunette exclaimed. He took a deep breath to calm himself before carrying on. "Maybe we'll have to put a few things in storage. So what?"

"I don't know. It just seems…I don't know." Hanna let out a big, long, exasperated sigh and collapsed back onto Caleb's chest, with a slight bounce. "I don't know," she repeated. "I just don't know."

 **A/N - so this chapter may be short and crappy because im kinda in the process of starting my second story (u guys remember when i said i was going to have two stories at the same time? well thats actually finally gonna happen ahhaaha)**

 **let me know what u all thought of this chapter! 5 REVIEWS FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER!**


	8. Chapter 8

Hanna awoke to a strange, but somewhat familiar, feeling in her stomach. Before she knew it, she was darting to the bathroom, where she proceeded to spill her guts into the toilet. As she wiped her lips, Hanna groaned to herself and rested back against the cold, tiled walls. She thought she was over that stupid sickness, but obviously not. When Hanna decided she wouldn't need to use the toilet bowl again, she slowly crept back to the bed, where Caleb was still snoring away. Thankfully, he didn't wake when she slid herself back into bed.

Only two hours later, Hanna was awake again, but this time was seeing to Madelyn, who had awoken bright and early. The blond looked over at the clock hanging on the pink wall and noticed it was only quarter to five, not a time Hanna liked to be awake at. Considering she was still feeling slightly nauseous, Hanna wished she was back in bed, asleep. Instead, there was a very awake toddler bouncing up and down on her bed.

"Maddie, stop," Hanna said, half-heartedly. She retrieved her daughter from the bed and let her run free down the hallway. At this point, she didn't care if Caleb was woken. If she had to suffer, so did he. Madelyn carried on running right into her mom and dad's bedroom, where she definitely woke up Caleb. The two-year-old began jumping excitedly all over him, and didn't even stop when Caleb moaned and batted her away. Hanna didn't attempt to help, just stood in the doorway laughing to herself.

"Han, get her off," Caleb called. His voice was still sleepy and hoarse, and he still had his head buried in his pillow, but Hanna heard him. Although, it didn't seem like it. She continued to make no further attempt to stop Madelyn, as she had her own little amusement show happening right in front of her. "Han, please," he begged. Feeling suddenly piteous, Hanna padded across the room and fetched Maddie, who let out a loud groan when pulled away.

"But Daddy!" she said to Hanna.

"Daddy wants to sleep, Maddie. You need to let at least one of us sleep," Hanna replied. She then murmured to herself, "Although Mommy wishes it was her sleeping."

Maddie bounded into her playroom the second she reached the bottom of the stairs, and began pulling out piles and piles of books from the shelf. A whole load fell down with a plonk, and Hanna was sure that was not going to help Caleb fall back asleep, if he already hadn't. She hurried over and quickly picked them all back up, piling them on the table.

"Do you want me to read you a story?" the mother asked, holding up a book. Madelyn nodded, but took the one from Hanna's hand and replaced it with another: Sleeping Beauty. At one point in her life, Hanna used to love all the Disney princesses. Now, she'd rather stick pins in her eyes than read Sleeping Beauty one more time. Hanna was sure Madelyn did it just because she knew her mom didn't like them. "Can we please read a different one? Like, The Hungry Caterpillar?"

"No Mommy. Seepin Beauty," Maddie replied firmly. Well, that was Hanna told. She reluctantly began reading it, and was surprised when the toddler perched herself on Hanna's lap and actually listened to the story, instead of completely ignoring it and doing something else like she usually did. When Hanna reached the end on the book, she nearly cheered. "Gen, gen!"

"No, Maddie, not again. We can do something else like…ooh, should we have breakfast?" Hanna was _not_ going to read Sleeping Beauty again. Ever. In fact, she was ready to throw the book straight out of the window.

Madelyn contemplated the offer for a while, and then nodded. "Food!"

10 minutes later, the little girl was happily singing as she sat at the kitchen's island and waited for her breakfast. Hanna was cooking pancakes, and kept looking back every so often and laughing. Madelyn was trying to sing Justin Beiber's song, Sorry, but didn't know any of the words. Hanna could only work out it was Sorry because she was being constantly asked to have it on in the car, and Maddie would try and sing along to it then, too.

As the blond served up a blueberry pancake — with a dollop of syrup on the top, just as Madelyn liked it — Caleb walked in, yawning and scratching his neck.

"Did we wake you?" Hanna asked. She knew fine well that they did, since she hadn't bothered at all to make Maddie quiet. Caleb nodded sleepily and slumped onto a chair beside the toddler. She was still singing, but stopped when Caleb shushed her. "Hey, Mads, don't stop. I liked it!"

Caleb shot his wife a death glare, making Hanna smirk. "I hate you," he muttered. Hanna shrugged, and went back to making more pancakes. She poured the mixture into a pan and as it started to cook, she breathed in the supposedly heavenly smell. Only it wasn't heavenly. And it made her feel even more nauseous than before. Leaving the frying pan on and cooking, Hanna ran out of the room and headed to the downstairs bathroom, where she repeated what she'd previously done earlier that morning.

She walked back into the kitchen a good five minutes later, with her head hanging low, as if she were embarrassed. Caleb was now standing up, guarding Madelyn as she stuffed as much pancake as she could into her mouth. He turned when he heard the padding on Hanna's feet against the floor, and looked worried.

"I would have come and helped you but the stove was on and Maddie was—"

"It's fine," Hanna mumbled. "I'm fine."

"Babe, you're not fine," Caleb said. He wandered over to where she had stopped and leant against the wall, and rubbed her arm. "I thought that sickness thing had cleared up."

Hanna shrugged, but looked up at Caleb. "It did."

Confused, Caleb asked, "So what was that?" He gestured to the hallway, where Hanna had run through to get to the bathroom.

Hanna knew exactly what it was. As she sat on the floor by the toilet, she'd had some time to think about this nausea. It didn't feel like what it had been like just two days before, but Hanna couldn't put her finger on what was different. Then it suddenly hit her.

"Han?"

That afternoon, Hanna and Caleb walked around Target like headless chickens. They had no idea where to look for what they needed, and it didn't help that they'd never been in the shop before. Thinking that Target would sell the best brands, they'd decided to travel to the next town over. But it didn't look like that was the best decision.

"Han, I've found them!" a voice called out. Hanna, along with Madelyn in her arms, ran to where the voice had come from. Maddie was giggling hysterically as she was bounced up and down when Hanna ran, and was still laughing when they reached Caleb. Hanna and Caleb both stared at the rows and rows of different makes. "So…which one do we want?"

The blond reached out and picked up one, read the back of the box, and then threw it in their basket. She repeated that three times with another three different boxes, before turning to her husband and saying, "I think these will do."

"Are you sure?" Caleb took a sharp breath and held it, only breathing out when Hanna nodded. He took a hold of Hanna's hand reassuringly and led her to the pay. As Hanna handed over the 4 boxes, she noticed the Target employee give her a weird look. Caleb noticed, too, and responded with an equally rude glare. The woman at the checkout was about to open her mouth, but Caleb interrupted her before she could spit out one word. "That'll be all thanks." He handed over the money without counting and grabbed his wife's hand again, dragging her towards the exit. Hanna barely managed to grab the shopping bag as she was pulled away. "Did you know her or something? She gave you the bitchiest look ever," Caleb said as they walked back to the car.

Hanna shrugged in reply. She wrapped the bag around her hand and began poking holes through the plastic. It wasn't as if she were scared, she was just…well maybe a little scared. She'd never taken a pregnancy test before. When she and Caleb suspected they were pregnant with Madelyn, they'd gone straight to the doctors to get it confirmed. But Caleb didn't seem nervous at all. In fact, Hanna got the feeling he was actually excited. Only would Hanna be excited if she was actually pregnant. And she didn't want to get her hopes up.

After loading Maddie into the back of the car, Hanna hopped into the passenger seat and took out her phone from her back pocket. She debated texting her mother to let her know what she was doing, but then decided against that. If it turned out Hanna was indeed with-child, Hanna wanted to surprise her mom.

"This is so exciting!" Caleb said as he climbed into the Land Rover. He sounded just like a little boy on Christmas Day. After strapping the seatbelt around himself, Caleb looked over at his wife instead of starting the car. "Hey," he said in a much calmer voice. "Are you okay?"

Hanna snapped out of her thoughts and started nodding enthusiastically. "I'm great." Hanna wasn't convincing herself or Caleb.

"Babe, it's going to be okay. You don't have to be scared or anything," Caleb said, reaching his hand out to her thigh. Hanna strained a smile as she looked back at him, but he could still see she wasn't "normal" just yet. "Why are you scared, anyway?"

"How do you know I'm even scared?" the blond snapped. She purposefully jerked her leg away so Caleb's hand would fall off, and as it did, Caleb immediately pulled it away. Hanna looked to the window and watched an elderly couple hobble to their Toyota. The man grabbed his wife's arm and led her to the passenger side of the car and carefully sat her in. He even kissed her cheek as he pulled away, and Hanna felt her heart melt.

"I can see it in your eyes."

"That's some cheesy shit right there, Caleb," Hanna muttered as she continued to look out of the window. She didn't know why she was suddenly being so moody with Caleb; it just came out of nowhere. When Hanna heard Caleb let out a big sigh, she knew he didn't know what do say anymore. "I know we don't even know if I'm actually pregnant yet, but if we are, how are we going to work it around moving to New York?"

Caleb had begun to pull his keys from his back pocket, but put them back and looked over at the blond. She had her chin resting on her palm, which was resting on the car door. "That's what you're worried about?" Caleb replied in a calm voice. "Babe, we can work our way around that. It's not a big deal."

"Well a baby would kind of muck it up. We'd need even more people to help us move, and there aren't that many who can actually help right now." Hanna finally turned her head so she was facing Caleb and felt his deep, dark brown eyes warm her heart. "Plus, we weren't even planning on having a baby."

"So? Maddie wasn't planned and look how that all turned out."

The blond sighed. "I'm just scared," she mumbled.

"Don't be. Everything is going to work out just fine, I promise." Caleb gave Hanna a reassuring smile and squeezed her hand. "Imagine another little Maddie running around. How cute would that be?"

"I suppose it'd be kind of cute," Hanna said slowly. She even managed to give her husband a smile, but a genuine one this time. "I still don't think it's the right time," she added quickly.

"It is. Trust me."

After the relatively short journey back to the house, Caleb jumped out of the car and hurried around the side to help Hanna out. She gratefully took his hand and stepped out, before opening the next car door and helping Madelyn scramble out. The toddler darted across the driveway, straight to the front door, where she began jumping up and down. Maddie wasn't even aware what was going and already seemed more excited than Caleb.

"Okay Maddie, Mommy needs to do something in the bathroom, so can you play in your playroom with Daddy for a moment?" Hanna asked as she pushed her daughter through the door. Caleb followed behind, threw the keys onto the table, and then swung Maddie into his arms.

"How about we play princesses?" Caleb asked, tickling the little girl's belly. Madelyn let out a squeal and threw her head back in laughter. "I'll take that as a yes then."

Grinning to herself, Hanna wandered off to the downstairs bathroom, feeling a little more at ease with the situation. She dropped the shopping bag on the floor and pulled one of the boxes out, reading the instructions. She gulped down a glass of water she'd quickly poured for herself, and did as instructed. Hanna then repeated the process with the three other tests.

When 5 minutes had passed, Caleb began to get worried. With Madelyn perched on his hip, he headed through the house and tapped on the bathroom door. "Hanna? Is everything okay?"

Hanna opened the door to reveal 4 pregnancy tests lying on the side. "I need to wait one more minute."

Caleb nodded in understanding and was about to say something when the toddler in his arms suddenly leant over, causing him to nearly topple. Maddie was leaning towards her mom, and had her arms stretched out. "Mama," she called. Hanna smiled and tilted her head sideways, before reaching out and retrieving her. Madelyn immediately nuzzled into Hanna's blond hair and wrapped her tiny arms around her neck.

A sudden beeping sound echoed around the bathroom, and Hanna giggled as she grabbed her phone and switched off the alarm she had set. Hanna looked at Caleb and took a deep breath as her hand took ahold of one of the sticks.

"What does it say?" the brunette asked, his voice wobbling with a sudden wash of nerves.

"I can't do it." Hanna held out her hand towards Caleb, who slowly took the test from her hands. Everything turned silent for a moment as he read it, and Hanna was sure her heart was thumping in her chest so loudly, people could hear it in the next house. "Caleb?" she whispered.

"It's positive!" he exclaimed. Hanna looked up wide-eyed, expecting it all to be a joke. When she saw her husband's genuine grin taking up half his face, Hanna knew he wasn't lying. She forgot Maddie was in her arms and threw herself into Caleb's chest, squealing.

"Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God!" Hanna squealed. She began jumping up and down on the spot with excitement, making Madelyn giggle. Hanna looked down at her daughter, grinning. "You're going to be a big sister!"

Madelyn didn't understand what was going on, and completely ignored her mother's comment. She started begging to be put on the floor, so Hanna let her run free. As Madelyn's feet trotted into the kitchen, the blond stared at Caleb, still smiling. She collapsed into his arms and sighed, "We're going to have a baby."

 **A/N - i hope you guys all liked this chapter! let me know what you thought of it by leaving a review!**

 **i seem to be getting less and less reviews and its making me feel kinda like i shouldn't bother to write anymore chapters. i don't want to stop writing, but when you guys actually do review, i feel motivated, so please keep reviewing!**

 **can we get 5 reviews for the next chapter?**


	9. Chapter 9

Caleb was sitting on the couch, causally scrolling through his emails when he suddenly came across a specific one. As soon as he clicked on it, he knew what it was. "Babe, come here!" Caleb called. Hanna came running from the kitchen and hung over the back of the couch as she read the email.

"No way," she said as she reached the end. "That's—no way."

"Yes way." Caleb looked up at her, grinning. "We got the apartment!"

Hanna's face lit up and she shot round the side of the couch faster than a flash of light. She fell onto Caleb's lap and began repeatedly kissing him on the lips, making a "mwah" sound as she did so. "This has been the best weekend _ever_ ," she whispered as she settled into a comfier position on his lap.

Caleb, still somehow on his computer, noticed an email he had received a few days back. "Babe, you know that job I applied for a couple of weeks ago?"

"Yeah. What about it?"

"I have an interview." The brunette smiled hopefully at his wife, and breathed a sigh of relief when a grin appeared on her face.

"That's great, Caleb!" Hanna exclaimed. She gave him another kiss, but this time made his longer, and more passionate. Hanna only stopped when Madelyn came wandering into the living room. The toddler was holding a book by its cover and chucked it onto the couch, before attempting to heave herself up. She struggled for a minute before either Hanna or Caleb tried to help her. "What's this?" the blond asked, picking up the ragged book. "Maddie, why have you brought a Doctor Seuss book out? Where did you even get this from?"

"Hey that's mine," Caleb said, grabbing it from Hanna's grip. "This was in The Cave. How did you even get in there, Maddie?"

The Cave was Caleb's "guys" room, which had a flat screen, a beer fridge, a foosball table, and a large blue corner couch. It was in the basement of the house, and even had its own bar. The Cave held all of guys' get-togethers, and it's usual sutlers were Ezra, Toby and occasionally Ted. But mostly, it was used when Caleb wanted to escape the stresses of life. And his was also under strict rules of having no-one under age inside, especially a toddler.

"Oh, I think I might have read that to her the other day," the blond said. "Don't worry. Maddie didn't go down to your man-space."

"It's not a man-space. It's The Cave," Caleb muttered to himself. Hanna heard and rolled her eyes, letting out a small chuckle. She snatched the book bag from her husband and opened it up. The first thing she noticed was the tattered, ripped pages hanging by a loose thread.

"Well," she began. "This has certainly been well read."

"It was my favorite book as kid." Just talking about it was making Caleb smile. He took over from Hanna and began reading to Madelyn, who wasn't actually listening, unsurprisingly. Caleb either didn't notice, or noticed but chose to ignore the fact, as he carried on reading. It looked like Hanna was the only one listening. "This next baby better be a boy and he better like this book."

The blond rolled her eyes; typical Caleb. He'd wanted a boy when they were having Madelyn, and for the exact same reason: so he could be just like Caleb. But although they had a girl, Maddie is very similar to her father, though Hanna doesn't like to admit it. Secretly, she wanted this next baby to be another girl so she could be a mommy's girl, but only secretly. To Caleb, Hanna didn't mind what she had.

"Did you book an appointment for a scan or checkup or whatever it is?" Caleb asked as he leant over and put the book on the coffee table. As he leant back, Hanna relaxed into his side and cuddled up to him.

"No, not yet," she replied. Her hand moved to Caleb's chest and rested there, moving up and down with his very breath. "I'll call tomorrow."

"Have you thought of any names yet? I know we found out yesterday but—"

"I quite like the name Eliza for a girl. Or maybe Zara. Or maybe even—"

"So you've thought of some names. I get it," Caleb interrupted. He didn't need to hear Hanna's ever-growing list of names; he'd heard it once before. "I swear you did this last time. You only ever thought of girls names. What if we have a boy? Are we naming our son Eliza?"

Hanna looked at her husband as if he were stupid—which at this point in time, Hanna thought he was. "You can name him if he's a boy." She moved her hand from Caleb's chest to the TV remote and flicked through the channels. Dance Moms was on—Hanna had been obsessed recently—and she was about to put it on when Caleb yelled out, "No!" The blond sighed and carried on until she came across Scandal and happily switched it over.

"Why do I get the responsibility of naming it if it's a boy?" Caleb suddenly said, half way through the show. "I mean, why can't we both choose?"

The blond shrugged. "You're a guy."

"Well done, Hanna," Caleb answered sarcastically.

"So you can do it."

"We've already established that I'll be choosing it. I just want a reason why."

Hanna shrugged again and got up from the couch. She wandered over to the kitchen and pulled out a can of beer, then shoved it back in. It seemed to be hard to remember she was actually pregnant; Hanna still didn't believe it. She exchanged it for a bottle of water and headed back over to the couch as she opened it.

Hanna hadn't even sat down when Caleb suddenly announced, "Hey, Maddie, I think it's time for bed." Madelyn, who had been happily playing with Bella by the door to the backyard, looked up and pouted. "Come on," Caleb ushered. He stood up, walked over to her, and scooped her up into his arms. "If you want, I'll read you a story."

"Storwy!" the toddler exclaimed. Hanna rolled her eyes: stories were always the way to go when Maddie didn't want to go to bed. For some odd reason, she loved being told them—especially if they were about princesses. Hanna had never worked out why that was; she and Caleb had never been ones for reading. As Caleb carried Madelyn upstairs, Hanna could hear the toddler nattering on about what Hanna could only guess to be princesses.

She chucked to herself before picking up an _Elle_ magazine and flicking through it. She stopped on a page advertising Prada sunglasses and folded down the corner. That was something she'd sure to as Caleb for later.

Caleb slowly descended down the stairs with his face focused on his phone. He was clearly reading something and not looking where he was going. As Caleb reached the bottom, he tripped over Bella's toy, and Hanna couldn't help but let out a loud laugh. She'd watched him all the way down, and it was inventible that was going to happen.

"Babe," Caleb said, still enrapt with something that was on the screen. He didn't seem phased by his tripping. "I need to go to New York on Tuesday."

"Just for the day?" the blond asked as she read an article on the London Fashion Week.

"Yeah." Caleb slumped onto the armchair and placed his phone on the coffee table. "I'll have to leave early in the morning. But I'll be back that evening."

Hanna dropped the magazine next to her and sighed before standing up and moving towards her husband. Without asking, she sat herself sideways on Caleb, so she was lying across his lap. Her legs hung over the arm of the chair, and Caleb rested his hands on Hanna's stomach.

"We're going to have a baby," Hanna whispered as she placed her owns hands on top. "I can't believe we're actually going to have another baby."

"Well believe it." The brunette smiled and leaned over to place a kiss on Hanna's lips. Hanna grinned and moved in for a more passionate, longer kiss. "I love you, Han. So much."

The next morning, Maddie was happily sitting opposite her mom, playing with Bella. Hanna tickled under the dog's chin, before tickling Maddie's feet. The toddler squealed and jumped up, giggling. She ran off with Bella excitedly following behind and headed through until she reached the backyard. The door was already open, letting in the summer warmth, and Hanna immediately ran after her.

"Swings, Mama," Maddie called, pointing to the huge jungle gym. As Hanna put Maddie into a swing, Bella began barking at her feet. Hanna shooed her away, but it didn't work.

"Bella, no," she ordered. "Go inside. Now."

The pup whined as she turned away and trotted across the grass, then the patio, and then finally inside the house. Hanna turned back around to face Maddie and rolled her eyes. Sometimes, Hanna found that Bella was a rather needy dog. It wasn't like Hanna was trying to not play with her, but she knew that Bella could wait to be played with, whereas Madelyn, on the other hand, could not.

"Ready…steady…" Hanna pulled the swing closer and closer towards her, before finally letting it go and yelling, "Go!" Maddie let out a loud equal and started giggling hysterically as Hanna continued to push her. "Should we go…higher?!"

"High, high, high!" the toddler screamed. Hanna did as she was told and pushed the swing harder. She couldn't help but laugh herself when she saw how happy her daughter was. "Yay!"

"Is that fun?" she cooed. Hanna was made, by Madelyn, to carry on for ages — too long for Hanna. Just watching the swinging motion was making her feel nauseous, and eventually she couldn't hack it any longer. "Mad, come on. Should we play in the pool?" the blond asked as she gently pulled the swing to a stop.

"No," Maddie groaned. "Gen, gen!"

Hanna shook her head and heaved the wriggling toddler out of the swing. Maddie squirmed and wiggled as she attempted to break her mother's hold on her. Hanna somehow managed to get Maddie out, and placed her on the ground, only to have the child start screaming and crying.

"Swing, Mama," she cried. "No pool."

"No more swinging, Maddie," Hanna said in as much of a calming voice as she could. Though, Madelyn was definitely pushing her patience. "We can go in the pool, or go on the slide, or we can…go and see Grandma!"

"Ganma!" Well, that seemed to cheer Maddie up. She started jumping up and down with a big, wide grin on her face. Hanna chuckled and immediately pulled out her phone, scrolling through her contacts until she reached her mother's.

"Mom, hey. Are you busy right now?" The blond tapped her foot on the ground as she listened to Ashley's reply, and smiled when she—thankfully—said she wasn't. "Can I bring Maddie over?"

"Of course!" Ashley exclaimed. "Now?"

Within 15 minutes, Hanna was walking along the sidewalk, with Madelyn gripping her hand. The toddler was happy skipping along, but every so often, was looking up and watching the birds in the trees above. In Hanna's other hand, she was holding Bella's leash. The dog was eager to play, so Hanna thought that putting her in her mom's garden with her two pups would hopefully burn out Bella's energy.

Hanna and Maddie turned around a corner, and Maddie let out a squeal when she recognised Grandma Ashley's house. It was a large, modern house, with a reasonable sized garden that Madelyn _loved_ to play in.

As they reached closer, Maddie let go of Hanna's hand and tottered off in a fast walk. The toddler headed up the front yard and began walking around the side of the house, towards the backyard. Hanna wasn't far behind, and stopped Madelyn before she went any further.

"Do you want to knock on the door, baby?" Hanna asked as she picked up the little girl. Maddie nodded enthusiastically and held out her arms. She gave a weak knock on the green front door, so weak that Hanna was sure no one would be able to hear it. When Madelyn wasn't looking, Hanna quickly rang the bell.

"My little Maddie baby!" Ashely cried out when she opened the door. Maddie threw herself into Ashley's arms and wrapped her own chubby ones around her neck. Hanna stood back, smiling, but was distracted when Bella began tugging on her leash. Bella had noticed Dot, one of Ashley and Ted's Schnauzers, trotting up to the front door to see what was going on. Dudley, the second Schnauzer, followed shortly behind. When Ashley and Maddie had finally stopped hugging, the redhead gave Hanna her own hug, and then welcomed them both—and Bella—inside.

"Hey Maddie, hey Hanna!" Ted's hearty voice called as everyone wandered into the kitchen. He was standing by the stove, cooking up something that smelled delicious. Hanna walked up to her stepfather and gave him a warm hug, whilst trying to hide her rumbling stomach. The food smelled so good, Hanna just wanted to eat it up right there and then. She didn't even know what it was. "I'm just making guacamole to go with the chips." Ted pointed to a bag that were lying on the side, and Hanna nodded. Since when had guacamole smelled so good?

"Maddie, what do you think about going outside and eating some chips?" Ashley asked, crouching down to Madelyn's level. The toddler's eyes widened; if there was something she loved more than anything in the world, it was chips—which Hanna found a bit odd. She was more of a chocolate kind of girl herself.

As Ted rested the bowl of homemade guac onto the large table that had once hosted Hanna's baby shower, Hanna dug right in. She made an accidental moaning sound when she tasted it: it tasted even better than it smelt.

"Ted, this is amazing," the blond said as she ate. She didn't realise it, but she was spitting it all out of her mouth. Madelyn was doing the same as she chomped away at her salted tortilla chip. "Where did you learn to make this?!"

"Oh years ago," Ted replied. "I'm glad you like it, Hanna. And you, Maddie," he laughed.

"So, where's Caleb?" Ashley asked as she helped Madelyn.

"Work," Hanna answered simply. "He's actually going to New York tomorrow, though."

The redhead looked up, seemingly surprised. "What for?"

"A job interview." Hanna couldn't help but grin: she just got so excited when talking about New York. She suddenly remembered her parents weren't aware that they had gotten the apartment they'd put their name down for, and Hanna contemplated telling them now. She wasn't sure whether it was right to do it without Caleb, but apparently she couldn't resist. "We got the apartment!" Hanna blurted out.

"You did?" Ted asked. He had a happy smile on his face, and Hanna knew it was genuine. She looked over at her mother, hoping for her support in the move. Hanna remembered telling her mom and Ted about New York, and how badly Ashley had reacted. She just didn't want her daughter and granddaughter to move out of Rosewood. Hanna had to explain to her that she'd lived in New York before, and it was only a few hours away. It was really no big deal.

"Honey, that's great," Ashley breathed. She smiled warmly at Hanna, and Hanna suddenly felt strangely all emotional. She wasn't aware she was that upset about moving; she knew she would see her parents regularly, she knew she would only be a matter of a car journey away. Ashley noticed the tears forming in her daughter's eyes, and worried. "Hanna, are you okay?"

"It's just hormones," Hanna replied without thinking. She hoped her mother thought she was referring to being on her period, not being pregnant. Hanna wasn't ready to tell Ashley and Ted just yet, she had a surprise planned. Ashley didn't seem to think anything of it, and Hanna quickly reverted back to stuffing her face with chips and guacamole.

"Gandad," Madelyn called. She was sitting opposite Ted, and started banging on the table to get his attention. "Play?"

"You want me to come and play with you? Sure!"

The grandfather and granddaughter duo hurried off to the end of the garden, where there was a stash of toys especially for when Maddie visited. The toddler picked out a long rope and began flinging it around, until Ted grabbed it and stopped her. He took the rope himself, pointed it at Madelyn, and when she squealed with excitement, began chasing her around the garden.

Hanna and Ashley sat back and watched with amusement. They both looked at Ted and Maddie, then at each other, and then chuckled.

"Madelyn is something else," the redhead laughed. "How can one two-year-old be so energetic?"

"I ask myself that every day," Hanna sighed. Sometimes she wanted to curse herself for giving birth to a little ball of energy. Madelyn rarely seemed to get tired during the day, despite how much Hanna and Caleb—or anyone else for that matter—tried to tire her out. Hanna often reminisced over the days when Maddie used to nap. Looking back on it, Hanna realised how much she took those simple naps for granted.

"She's so sweet though. The last time I had her by myself, she came up to me and told me that she loved me. It was completely random," Ashley said, "but so, so sweet."

Hanna pouted. "She doesn't do that for me."

"Maybe Maddie just loves her grandma more than her mommy," Ashley teased. Hanna didn't look impressed, and was now glaring at her mother. "Or not," the redhead quickly added.

Over three hours later, Hanna finally decided she should head home. It was nearly 3 o'clock, and Caleb was due home soon. He had warned Hanna that he'd be home early, as he was telling his boss that he had to travel to New York early the next day, and managed to get some time off. Hanna had decided it'd be the perfect time to surprise Caleb with a night out. Except, she'd forgotten to ask her mom if she could look after Maddie.

"Hey, Mom," Hanna began. Ashley looked up from watching the toddler—who was signing loudly—and smiled. "Would you be able to look after Maddie tonight? I wanted to take Caleb out."

"Han, I'm sorry but I can't. Ted and I are going to watch a movie this evening." Ashley looked at her daughter apologetically, but then her facial expression suddenly changed as if had an idea. She turned to Ted and started tapping him on the arm until he turned towards her. "Maybe we can change our plans and see a different movie? Then Maddie could come, and we could spend the night with her. Oh Ted, we haven't done that in so long."

"Of course," Ted replied, smiling.

"That'd be great!" Hanna exclaimed. "Thank you!"

 **A/N - thank you all for the reviews on the last chapter. you guys are seriously amazing. can i get another 5 reviews for this one? it'd mean so much.**


	10. Chapter 10

After a hectic day at work, all Caleb wanted to do was collapse on the couch and watch Game of Thrones; have a simple night in. He unblocked the door and as it opened, called out to Hanna, "Babe, I'm home!"

Hanna appeared from the kitchen into the hallway, clad in a tight-fitting black dress. She had a pair of Roger Vivier heels on, and had her blond locks in loose curls. Suddenly, Caleb wasn't so tired.

"Wow," was all the brunette could stutter. "You look…wow."

"Why thank you," Hanna smirked. She walked up to her husband and placed an unexpected kiss onto his rosy lips. As she took ahold of Caleb's hand and had begun to lead him back into the kitchen, she explained, "Maddie's with my mom and Ted, so we have the night to ourselves. I was thinking maybe we could head out for something to eat? Italian?"

Caleb wasn't paying attention, and instead was eyeing up his beautiful wife. "Mhm," he mumbled.

"My face is up here," Hanna said, waving her hand in front of Caleb's face. He looked up and smirked. "So Italian it is?"

"Sure." Caleb let go of Hanna's hand and wandered over to the fridge, where he pulled out a can of soda. After cracking it open and taking a big gulp, placed it on the side and undid the top button on his shirt. "Do you want me to get ready? Since you look…" Caleb gestured to Hanna's dress. "…like that."

"Don't worry about it. You look cute as it is." The blond messed up Caleb's hair and chuckled when he dodged out of the way. "Actually, no. Change your shoes. Then we can go."

Caleb glanced down at his simple black Vans and when he looked back up, seemed offended. "What's wrong with my shoes?"

Hanna wrinkled up her nose, and without saying anything, shuffled into the hallway and picked up a pair of Burberry brogues. She walked back in and shoved them at Caleb, and he reluctantly took them. "They'll look better. I promise."

Caleb tutted and bent down to change the shoes. "I still don't know what's wrong with them," he muttered.

When Hanna was finally happy with her husband's look, she grabbed her purse from the couch, her phone from the kitchen side, and then the keys from the table by the front door. As Hanna walked out of the front door and reached her hand out to unlock the car, Caleb took them for himself.

"I'm driving," he announced. Hanna smiled and walked around the Land Rover to the passenger side and hopped in.

She strapped her seatbelt around her waist as Caleb jumped in and asked, "So, where are we going?"

Caleb followed Hanna's directions, driving out of Rosewood, and even out of Pennsylvania. After driving for what felt like hours, and it turned out it _was_ hours—3 to be exact— Caleb pulled into a parking lot in a petite town in Philadelphia, Bristol. Hanna stepped out of the car and linked her arm in Caleb's. She led the way to a small, dimly lit restaurant down an isolated alley. Surprisingly, the actual restaurant was fairly busy, with posh waiters busying around.

"Hi," Hanna said to a waiter as she walked into the restaurant. "I have a table booked. It's under the name Hanna Rivers."

Caleb couldn't help but crack a smile. He still felt his heart flutter every time he heard Hanna—or anyone— referred to her as a Rivers. It was more than perfect.

"Right over here," the waiter replied. He started walking off and waved for Hanna and Caleb to follow. They were brought to a small table for two, with a candle flickering in the center. The couple took their seats on opposite sides, and smiled to each other as they did so. The waiter interrupted them by placing to menus in front of them. He waited for a moment, before asking, "What drinks can I get you?"

"Can I get a virgin mojito please?" Hanna replied. She was desperate for a glass of rosé, but knew she better hadn't. Caleb asked for the same and the waiter soon scurried off, but not before leaving two more different menus, full of the posh, expensive meals that were served here.

"So why a meal out?" Caleb asked as he read through the dishes.

"Why not a meal out?" the blond answered. "We never get a night alone anymore. And we won't for a while since…" she gestured to her stomach, which would soon be growing a bump. Caleb smiled widely and glanced at Hanna's belly. The waiter reappeared with two glasses and placed one in front of Hanna and one in front of Caleb.

"Have you decided on any main courses?" he asked in a friendly and chirpy tone. The blond suddenly remembered she hadn't even taken one look at the menu and hastily opened it and glanced up and down it. She chose the meal that sounded most appetizing.

Caleb then ordered his own and as the waiter was walking away, took a big gulp of his mojito. "These," he pointed to the glass, "these are amazing."

Wanting to know for herself, Hanna took sip of her own and was immediately hit with a burst of flavor. Hanna puckered her face, and gently placed the glass back down. "I haven't had a virgin in so long."

"Well you better start getting used to them. You can forget about alcohol for the next 9 months," the brunette replied. Hanna sighed and slumped her head into her hand. "It's not so bad. Just think about the baby."

"You're making it sound like I care more about drinking than I do about our baby," Hanna snapped. She immediately regretted it and gave him an apologising look. These hormones were driving her crazy. Earlier, she had snapped at her mom when all she did was take the finished guacamole bowl away to get washed. "Sorry," the blond mumbled.

Caleb chuckled and shook his head. She didn't need to apologise to him; she was allowed to be hormonal.

It didn't take long for the food to be cooked and brought over, and once it was, all of Hanna's snappy comments were forgotten about. Both Hanna and Caleb chomped away happily at their differing meals, and exchanged few glances as they ate.

"This food is amazing," Caleb announced, his mouth full of lasagne. The blond laughed and nodded in agreement.

"Hey, babe," she said. Caleb looked up from the table and smiled. "Do you think we can get Maddie tonight instead if me getting her tomorrow morning?"

"I was actually going to suggest that!" Caleb replied. "If we didn't, I wouldn't get a chance to say bye to her before I got to New York."

Hanna's IPhone was lying on the table, and she pressed the home button to see if she had any notifications from her mom. There were none—thankfully. "Should I give my mom or Ted a call to let them know we'll be picking her up?"

Caleb nodded, and the blond scurried off to the restroom. After leaving Ashley a voice message—since she wouldn't pick up—Hanna joined her husband back at the table. Soon, she was back munching at her food.

As she finished her last mouthful, Hanna sighed, feel nice and full. She relaxed back into her chair and watched her husband take a his last bite of food. The pair had eaten like there was no tomorrow. Caleb noticed Hanna staring at his plate and said, "Please say you don't want dessert too. I don't think I can eat anything else."

"I don't want dessert," Hanna reassured, chuckling. Hanna felt like she'd explode if she ate anymore. She reached over and grabbed her glass, taking a long and refreshing sip. "Remember when you said you wanted another dog? One that you could choose?"

"Yeah?" Caleb said as the waiter came to collect the empty plates. He had to dodge around the waiter's body to see Hanna's face and got internally frustrated when the waiter stopped to ask if the couple wanted anything else to eat. "No. We're good, thank you."

"We'd just like to pay, thanks," Hanna added, in a much more happier tone. She smiled widely at him as he headed back to get the bill. The blond turned back to her husband and continued with her point. "Well since now I'm pregnant, and we're moving to New York, is that still going to happen? Because I'd really like another dog. And I think Maddie would too."

"If we all want another dog, why can't we get another dog? Although this time, we are not getting a tiny, stupid, fluffy one like a Shih Tzu. We can get a big and manly one…like a Rottweiler!"

Hanna rolled her eyes and tutted. "We are not getting a Rottweiler, Caleb. We have a two-year-old and a baby on the way. Aren't Rottweilers dangerous?"

"Here's your bill." The waiter had suddenly reappeared and placed the bill onto the table, next to the candle. Caleb took one glance at it and thought he was going to pass out. The price was horrendous. Hanna, on the other hand, didn't seem so worried. She casually took out the her card from her purse and placed into the machine the waiter was holding. Hanna didn't seem at all phased by the price, and Caleb eyed her up suspiciously. As the waiter walked away for the final time, he wasted no time asking her what was going on.

"Nothing's going on!" Hanna replied, slightly exclaiming. The couple on the next table turned their heads at Hanna's loud voice, looking at Hanna and Caleb oddly. "I just wanted to be a nice wife treat you to a nice meal out. Is that now against the law?" She took her coat from the back of the chair and slid her arms through, before pulling it around her body. Caleb did the same with his own and followed his wife as she hurried towards the restaurant doors. Hanna gave all the waiters a appreciating and thankful nod as she passed, and Caleb gave them a quick smile.

"We didn't have to come to the most expensive restaurant in the whole of Philadelphia to have a nice meal out, Hanna. The Applerose Grille does nice meals!" Hanna was hastily walking down the street, her arm wrapped around her coat. Although it was June, the summer heat was being cooled off by the evening breeze. Caleb caught up with her and gently grabbed her arm, pulling her around to face him. "Hanna, tell me what's going on. Why did you bring me here?"

"I have a job interview" the blond mumbled. Caleb struggled to hear what she had said and asked her to repeat it. "I have a job interview in New York." The second time Hanna said it, she sounded a little more enthusiastic and excited.

The brunette raised his eyebrows and grinned, open-mouthed. "Babe, that's great!"

Hanna was staring at the ground and drawing circles with her foot on the sidewalk. "Yeah. Which is why I wanted to take you out for a nice meal."

"It should be _me_ taking _you_ for a meal out to celebrate." Caleb stared at his beautiful wife for a moment, before sighing. "Oh Han, this is amazing." He pulled Hanna in close and kissed her forehead as he felt her warm breath seeping through his shirt.

"I love you," Hanna muffled through the layers of clothes she was pressed against.

"I love you too, babe."

On the journey back to Rosewood, Hanna became more and more excited about her job interview. It was for a job she was actually interested in this time, and believed she had a decent chance of

getting it. It was for a costume designer on the set of a movie in New York and was like Hanna's dream job. She would need to head off to New York in the next week or two for a few interview before she would find out whether she got it or not. It payed well, and if she got it, it would mean the couple would have no problem renting their apartment and financing a new baby. Especially if Caleb got his job, too.

"You do genuinely want to do this job, don't you?" Caleb asked as he indicated left in the car. After Hanna's first attempt at trying to get a job, he wasn't taking any chances. "Because if you don't, I'm sure there are plenty of—"

"Caleb, I want it," Hanna interrupted. "I want to be a costume designer."

"Well only if you're sure. I don't you want being unhappy or whatever."

"I won't be. I swear this is what I want to do." And Hanna meant it. She'd never wanted anything more. As she stared out of the window, zooming past other cars, a thought popped into her mind. Would she have to tell them she was pregnant? Obviously they'd find out eventually, but it may influence her chances of getting employed. "Will I have to tell them?"

Caleb knew what Hanna was asking. He'd been waiting for this question since he found out. "Of course."

"But they'll find out on their own, anyway. Can't I just let that happen?"

"Babe, it's best if you tell them straight away. They won't appreciate it if you hide it from them," the brunette replied. He took a quick look at Hanna in the passenger seat and saw her face slumped in her hand. "How long is this job anyway? Aren't most movies shot in, like, 6 months?"

Hanna sat up straight and muttered, "More like a year."

"Well maybe you'll just have to bring the baby to work with you," he joked. Hanna didn't laugh and didn't look at all impressed. "You do want this baby, right?" Caleb asked slowly. He was all too worried that what Hanna was feeling would be leading somewhere.

"Of course!" she exclaimed. "I want this baby _so bad._ But we can't afford a baby if I don't have a job. And I'm not going to work hard at a job I don't want. It would help if the job was something like costume designing, because I have such a huge interest in it."

Caleb felt a twinge of guilt for asking if Hanna actually wanted her own baby. He tried his hardest to understand where she was coming from with the job problem, and finally decided that he couldn't. "Just tell them you're pregnant, Han." There wasn't really anything else that she could do _besides_ tell them.

"I suppose you're right," the blond sighed. As the car passed the _Welcome to Rosewood_ sign, Hanna remembered to remind Caleb to head to Ashley's house, although he was already on it. Like he'd forget to pick up his own daughter.

"Hey," Hanna whispered as Ted opened the door. He had Maddie in his arms, but she was completely passed out. Ted gently handed the sleeping toddler over to Caleb, who was careful not to awake her as he headed back down the front yard. Hanna stayed for a moment, thanking her parents. "Sorry she didn't get to stay the night, but Caleb wanted to see her before he goes to New York in the morning."

"It's fine," Ashley, who had now joined Ted at the front door, whispered. The blond leaned in and gave both a quick hug, before hurrying down the porch's steps, back to the car. Caleb still trying to strap Madelyn in without her waking up, which was proving more difficult than he'd thought.

"Here. Let me help you." Hanna climbed through the other side of the car and helped as Caleb gently placed the little girl in her seat. Once happy that she was safely strapped in and still asleep, the blond climbed back out and hurried around the car to the passenger side.

"Well, I don't know why I was expecting her to be awake when we collected her," Caleb announced as he sat himself down on the leather seat. He turned his head back to check on her and nodded. "Yep. She's long gone. I guess I won't be saying goodbye to her tonight after all."

Much to the couple's surprise, Madelyn awakened for a brief minute or two as they all arrived inside the house. Hanna had been carrying her in, but Caleb had dropped the car keys into the bowl too loudly. The sound had made Hanna jump, which had woken the toddler, which had led to a small crying fit.

"Maddie," Caleb hushed, taking her from her mother's arms. "I'm sorry, baby. Daddy didn't mean to wake you." He began gently bobbing her up and down, attempting to cease the cries. Eventually, they did cease, and Caleb was able to say goodbye without a fuss. He had brought Maddie up to her room, gotten her ready for bed, and made her comfy.

"Daddy's got to go to New York tomorrow, okay? So Mommy's going to look after you all day," Caleb explained. Tuesday's were usually his day off, and Hanna's day for herself—which she normally spent with a friend at the spa. The whole day would be spent with just Caleb and Maddie activities, things that Hanna wasn't fond off. Usually, it was going to the ice-cream parlour, or going to as many playgrounds as possible. "But I promise I'll be back to take you to bed."

"K," the toddler mumbled. She was already half-asleep, not that she would have understood Caleb anyway.

The next morning, Caleb awoke at an ungodly hour to travel to New York. His first meeting was at 10, but waking up at 3 gave him enough time to get there, check in to the hotel, and find the building he would be needing. Plus, waking up at 3 o'clock had it's perks: he'd get to see the sunrise.

Caleb tiptoed across the room and into the en suite, trying to be dealt quiet. He wouldn't hear the end of it if he woke Hanna. She hadn't been in the best mood when she'd gone to bed last night, after a friendly game of Monopoly turned into a more feisty version. Hanna had not been impressed when Caleb one.

When Caleb reappeared from the bathroom, he noticed Hanna had spread herself out across the bed. She was still fast asleep, but had clearly realised she now had the whole bed to herself.

The brunette grabbed the pair of black skinny Levi's that had been hanging over the back of the chair by Hanna's dressing table, and shoved them on. He then quietly and carefully tried to find the shirt he'd sworn he'd left out the previous night. It was harder than Caleb had expected to try and find a teeshirt with only one dimly lit lamp turned on. He couldn't turn any more on; he'd be murdered by his wife.

Caleb warily padded down the hallway, past Madelyn's bedroom. Although he found it slightly funny that Hanna would have to deal with caddie's crankiness if he were to wake her up, Caleb knew he'd get the blame. So, as quiet as a mouse, Caleb snuck into the room beside the toddler's and finally found the teeshirt he'd been looking for.

After quickly pulling it over his head, the brunette hurried down the stairs and into the kitchen, where his things were already lined up and ready to go. His "things" only really consisted of a basic duffel bag that was very lightly filled. Caleb was only going for the day, and knew he wouldn't need much.

45 minutes after waking up and quietly but frantically rushing around the house, Caleb grabbed his car keys and bag, and headed towards the front door. After looking back one last time to check everything was still in order, which it was, Caleb left for New York.

 **A/N - so caleb's having his interview in ny in the next chapter! hanna's interview will be soon, too, but there will be something that happens that will change everything in one of the interviews!**

 **leave your reviews for this chapter; let me know what you thought of it! can we pleeeeaaaassseeeee get 5 reviews? maybe more? ;))**


	11. Chapter 11

"Caleb Rivers?" an unfamiliar voice called out. Caleb, who had been waiting patiently for his interview, looked up and saw a rather large and cheery man smiling at him. He stood up and held out his hand, at which the man shook it firmly. "I'm Kenneth West, and I'll be your future boss. If you'd like to follow me, we can get this interview started."

Caleb followed Kenneth through to a small office, where he was gestured to sit on a chair at a desk. Kenneth sat opposite and pulled out a few notes from a draw. He glanced at the writing and cleared his throat. "So as you know, you'll be an Information Risk Analyst. I take it you know what this job will include?"

"Yes, I do," Caleb replied, nodding. He'd made sure to go over the job description five times, just to be sure. Hanna couldn't understand why he kept reading it. She'd always thought that once was enough; as long as she knew what she was doing, she was all fine.

"So, Caleb, why should I give you this job? What makes you special over everyone else who's applied?" Kenneth asked.

Caleb thought for a moment, but couldn't come up with a suitable answer. "I…uh…"

"It's okay. Take your time." Kenneth gave the brunette a reassuring smile.

The answer finally came to Caleb after minutes of racking his brain. It didn't seem like Caleb had been going over these type of questions for the whole car journey to New York. In fact, at many points, Caleb had been so focused on thinking about the questions, he forgot to concentrate on the road. "I have many ideas that I think could really be an asset to this company. I feel like I could really bring something good."

Meanwhile, Hanna was in the backyard, with Madelyn. They were in the swimming pool, and the toddler was happily splashing about. With her huge inflatable armbands on, Madelyn's face was barely visible, but she seemed content enough. Since Emily had taken her in a pool when she was just a baby, Maddie had loved swimming ever since. Hanna was sure her daughter was going to turn into an exact replica of Emily in high school: athletic, jock, champion swimmer. Nothing like Hanna or Caleb.

"Mama," Madelyn exclaimed, giggling. As she bobbed up and down, she splashed Hanna. The mother pretended to be upset and frowned, causing more giggles from the toddler.

"Should we get out now?" Hanna asked, moving a pool toy out of the way.

"No!" the young blond shouted. "Swim!"

"Baby, we've been in the pool for over an hour. If you're not careful, you'll turn into a prune."

Obviously, Madelyn had no idea what her mom was talking about, so ignored her and continued to splash widely. "Swim, swim, swim," she chanted. Hanna stood back in the water and sighed. There was no way Maddie was getting out of this swimming pool any time soon.

20 minutes later, after what Caleb thought were some pretty intense questions, he walked out of the large, tall, typical New York style building with a smile on his face. Caleb felt like he'd done pretty good, much to his own amazement. Kenneth seemed to have taken a liking to him, and had given him a friendly handshake as Caleb left. Now it was just a waiting game.

Since Caleb had guessed the interview wouldn't take too long, he had previously decided he would check out the new apartment.

"Come on, come on," the brunette muttered to himself as he sat in the busy New York traffic. Caleb drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and tried to look passed the other cars in front, looking to see if he could see what the problem was. It took a while, but the cars finally started moving and Caleb made it to the apartment block.

As he stood on the sidewalk, staring up at the huge block, a sudden realisation struck Caleb. This would be his home. This would be where Madelyn and his future child would grow up. This would be his daily route to work.

"Wow," Caleb breathed. He took a deep breath and walked through the doors. Two doormen were standing chatting to each other in the lobby. The lobby was painted a calming cream color, but had sections wallpapered with a pattered green, black and white paper. There were three green chairs by the wall, and a black couch near the door. Caleb couldn't help but feel like this was a rather upstate apartment building.

He walked up to the desk, where a woman was sat typing at an Apple computer. Caleb pulled out one of the keys that he and Hanna had been sent through after it'd had been confirmed they had gotten the apartment. "Hi," Caleb said as he stepped towards the desk. The woman looked up, unimpressed. "Sorry to interrupt, but my wife and I recently got an apartment here. Is it okay to go straight up?"

"Why wouldn't it be?" the woman replied. Caleb didn't know how to reply, so just turned around and headed to the elevator. He wasn't looking forward to seeing her every time he had to leave.

Hanna and Caleb's apartment was the floor beneath the top one. Caleb found the right number, and carefully unlocked the door. The inside was more than he could have ever imagined.

The first room to step into was the living room. It had windows that filled up the whole of one wall, and spectacular views that took the breath out of Caleb. There, right in front of him, was the Manhattan skyline. There was no furniture inside, Hanna and Caleb were yet to sell their own before they could move.

Next was the kitchen. It was almost a rounded shape, with cupboards and shelves filling up the back wall. There was an island in the middle with stone marbled counter tops that Hanna had fallen in love with from the pictures. On the left, there was a long window, and on the left was a space for a refrigerator, and a few more cupboards.

There was a reasonable size space that was probably a second living room area. Once again, there were large windows, showing the beautiful landscape that was New York.

Caleb walked through to the the first bedroom. It was an empty, medium sized, well-lit room. Caleb suspected Hanna would want this as Maddie's room. He was already expecting to be asked to paint it bright pink.

The master bedroom was further along the hall, and was bigger than Caleb realized. It had more than enough space for all of Hanna's furniture she'd want in a bedroom.

The brunette headed back into the main part of the apartment and sighed. "How can we afford this?" Caleb whispered as he gazed around the kitchen. It was beyond him how Hanna had ever persuaded him to buy this. Honestly, it worried Caleb. If he got this job, it would pay well, but surely couldn't pay for such an extravagant place like this.

After spending almost two hours just wandering around and around the apartment, Caleb decided he should start heading back to Rosewood. After all, it was over a three hour journey, and he promised Maddie that he'd be home in time for her to go to bed.

"Madelyn!" Hanna called out. She had finally managed to get the young toddler out of the pool, and was now in the local playground. It was almost 5 o'clock, and three hours ago, Caleb had texted to let Hanna know he was beginning his journey home. "We need to go home!"

"Play, Mama," Maddie replied. She was running around like a madman, releasing all her built up energy. On the plus side, it would be easy to get her to bed later. But on the down side, Madelyn was very adamant on staying in the park for probably eternity, if she had her own way.

"Daddy's going to be home soon," Hanna yelled. She hurried over to the other side of the park where the toddler was and grabbed her hand. "Do you want to see Daddy?"

"Daddy, Daddy!"

10 minutes later, Caleb passed the Rosewood sign. He passed Ashley and Ted's house, he passed Ashley and Hanna's old house—that was now occupied by a young family— and he passed the local playground, that Madelyn adored. Luckily, when Caleb was looking in the new apartment, he spotted a playground nearby that the toddler would be able to play in. It was just unfortunate that they didn't have spool for her to splash around in.

"Han? Maddie?" the brunette called out as he walked through the front door. He dropped his duffel bag by the door and carried on through to the kitchen. There was no answer from Hanna, but as Caleb headed through the living room and began to climb the stairs, he heard a giggle from Madelyn's playroom. He turned around and stepped back down before poking his head around the playroom door.

There, sitting on the floor, playing with dolls, were Hanna and Maddie. They were giggling and laughing with each other, and clearly didn't hear Caleb's arrival. Caleb stood there for a moment, just smiling and watching them play. It wasn't until Hanna sensed someone watching her and looked up when he moved.

"You're back!" Hanna exclaimed. She jumped up and ran up to her husband, wrapping her arms around his neck. If you didn't know Caleb had only been gone for the day, you'd think he'd just returned from a week's long trip away.

"Daddy!" Madelyn was next for a hug, and Caleb scooped her up, kissing her on the forehead.

The three walked through to the living room, where Caleb sat down, his daughter on his lap. Hanna sat next to him, after grabbing the remote from the side.

"So," she began as she curled her legs under. "How did the interview go?"

"It was good. I think it all went okay; the guy interviewing seemed to like me, I guess," Caleb replied. "The actual interview didn't take that long, so I headed over to Manhattan."

"You went to the apartment?"

Caleb nodded. "I did."

"H-how was it?" Hanna was definitely taken by surprise. She felt slightly jealous; she hadn't seen the apartment yet.

"It was amazing, Han." Madelyn was fidgeting on Caleb's lap, trying to get off, so he gave her a helping hand and she skipped off happily. "It's huge."

Caleb's tone was worrying Hanna. She got the feeling that he wasn't as happy about the apartment as she was. "That's a good thing, right?"

"Yeah. I guess. It's just…Han, the price goes with the size. The whole time I was there, I kept wandering how in God's name we're going to afford it _and_ a baby at the same time."

Hanna knew something was up. "But we've already bought it. We can't…well sell it again."

Caleb saw the sad, disappointed look on Hanna's face and immediately felt bad. "I know. We'll make it work. I'm just worried about nothing."

"Are you sure? Are you sure we can do it? I don't want to have our kids starving because of a house."

"Han," Caleb rested his hand on his wife's knee reassuringly. "We'll be fine."

Hanna wasn't convinced. Caleb couldn't have just had a sudden turn of heart. He obviously thought they'd struggle with money; Hanna could see it in his eyes. But she didn't need the extra worry; it wouldn't be good for the baby. She decided to forget about it. Well, as much as she could.

An hour later, Maddie started to become tired and droopy. "Hey Mads, do you want to go to bed?" Hanna asked. Caleb, who had been engrossed in the TV screen, looked over at the toddler. She was slumped on the floor, half-heartedly playing with Bella.

"No Mommy," Maddie replied. She had big bags under her eyes, and looked like she could fall asleep that second, but was very against going to bed. "No bed."

"Come on, Maddie," Caleb said, standing up. He walked over to her, and crouched down to Maddie's level. "If you upstairs to bed now, I'll read you a story."

"O _kay_ ," the toddler sighed. She stretched her arms up, as if to ask to be carried. Caleb scooped her up in his arms and held her as if she were baby. He couldn't wait to have another newborn again; he missed having a tiny baby so much.

Caleb trudged up the stairs, down the hallway, and into the bright pink bedroom. He stood Maddie on the floor before heading over and closing the curtains. From the drawers, Caleb grabbed a pair of pyjamas and began changing the toddler. Madelyn was practically unresponsive, she was so tired.

"We just need to brush your teeth, and then you can go straight to sleep," the brunette explained.

Maddie mumbled something, but Caleb didn't catch what is was. He carried her through to the bathroom, sat her on the toilet seat, and grabbed her toothbrush from the pot. Caleb had to physically open his daughter's mouth before he could actually start brushing her small teeth.

After finishing in the restroom, Madelyn was brought back to her bedroom and placed in her bed. Caleb turned his back for thirty seconds while he grabbed the toddler's favorite story from the bookshelf. When he turned back, Maddie was fast asleep. He let out a little chuckle to himself, and quietly crept out of the room, switching the light off as he passed it.

"That was a quick story," Hanna said as she saw Caleb's reflection in the window.

"I didn't get a chance to even start one." The brunette collapsed onto the couch besides his wife and rolled his eyes when Hanna immediately rested her legs on his lap.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you. I booked a doctor's appointment," Hanna suddenly announced. Caleb looked over at her, surprised. "It's on Thursday at 2. Can you come?"

"Of course! I'll go to work in the morning, but come home at lunchtime."

"I'm pretty sure I've already started gaining weight. This morning, I swear I saw a bump," the blond said, shaking her head as if she were in amazement.

"Han, there isn't a bump. You can't be that far along yet," Caleb replied. "And if you were, then wouldn't you have found out a lot earlier?"

Hanna shrugged. "I doubt I'm three months. I'm probably, like, 6, 7 weeks."

 **A/N - sorry this chapter is so short, but i wanted to post something for you guys!**

 **let me know if you liked this chapter! please review ;))))))))**


	12. Chapter 12

The day of Hanna's first doctor appointment arrived. The couple, along with Madelyn, walked through the automatic doors that led to a bright, colorful area. It was painted sky blue, and everyone was just as cheery as the paint. The nurse at the check-in desk was oddly happy, and had a very upbeat tone to her voice.

"Take a seat over there," she said with a big grin, gesturing to the waiting room in which there were about half a dozen pregnant women. Hanna grinned and grabbed Caleb's hand, dragging him behind her. She took a seat on an uncomfortable chair and Maddie started badgering her mom to let her sit on Hanna's lap. Hanna reluctantly agreed, but the second Maddie jumped on, Hanna's name was called out.

"Hanna Rivers?"

The blond stood up and grabbed her daughter's hand in one, and Caleb's hand in the other. The three followed a nurse into an equally cheery doctor's office. Hanna was told to take a seat on the bed, and memories of when she was pregnant with Maddie started flooding back: the time when they saw their first sonogram, the time when Hanna and Caleb found out they were having a daughter, the time when Hanna was told she would more than likely go over due. Hanna felt bubbly with excitement to think she was getting to experience it all again.

"Hanna!" a familiar, loud voice called as the door opened. Walking in was Josie, the doctor Hanna had for her first pregnancy. "It's so good to see you again! And you, Caleb."

Caleb shook Josie's hand, but used his other to keep a hold on a very wriggly Maddie. Josie looked down at the toddler on his lap and gasped.

"Is this Madelyn?" she asked, seemingly surprised. The last time Josie had seen Madelyn—or Hanna and Caleb—was when she was 3 months old. Hanna had brought her in when she came in to thank Josie for all she did during Hanna's pregnancy. "You've grown so much!"

Maddie giggled and fidgeted on Caleb's lap. Josie took another look at the toddler before moving onto Hanna on the bed. She asked Hanna to roll her shirt up while she grabbed the equipment for the ultrasound.

"Let's get started then."

It didn't take long for Josie to find the baby, and it's heartbeat. Hanna and Caleb both inhaled sharply as they saw the picture come up on the screen. That was their baby, their child, their son or daughter.

"It seems here, Hanna, that you're 8 weeks and 2 days. That's quite far along for someone who just found out."

Hanna brushed the comment off. She'd found out late with Madelyn. In fact, Hanna hadn't found out she was pregnant with Madelyn until nearly 10 weeks, which Hanna was told was pretty rare.

"Well, both heartbeats seem strong. Would you like me to print out a picture?"

Hanna and Caleb didn't even have to think. At the same time, they both blurted out, "Yes."

"I'll get right on that," Josie said, laughing. She left the blond and brunette alone as Hanna tried her stomach and rolled her shirt back down.

"I can't believe we're going to have another baby," Caleb announced. He was holding loosely onto Maddie's hand as she tried to escape, but was too busy thinking about the ultrasound they'd just had. Maddie pulled hard enough and suddenly, she was free. The toddler began running around the office, creating havoc.

Hanna immediately jumped from the bed and stood in front of her daughter, blocking her way. "Stop, Madelyn," the blond said in a deep, firm voice. Madelyn pouted and backed up, all the way to Caleb. The brunette was now standing by the door, and happened to be in the way of Josie, who was returning with the printout. Hanna looked at her husband and nodded behind him. "Caleb…"

"Excuse me," Josie said politely. Caleb jumped out of the way, blushing. He didn't know how long he'd been stopping her getting through for, which was slightly embarrassing. The doctor handed the sonogram picture to Hanna and cupped Hanna's hands in her own. "Congratulations on the baby."

"Thank you so much," Hanna replied, grinning. It seemed like since she arrived for the appointment, she'd had a permanent grin plastered to her face.

"I'll see you in a couple of months!" Josie called out as the couple walked out of the door. Caleb turned back and waved, before following Hanna down the hallway, back into the main area. There, Hanna booked herself another checkup, where they would hopefully be able to determine the gender.

"Mommy's so excited, baby," Hanna said to Maddie as she scooped her up in her arms. The toddler happily sat on her mom's hip, bobbing up and down as Hanna walked. As they walked back to the car, Madelyn stared at everyone passing by, and somehow managed to get a few laughs from strangers. Neither Hanna or Caleb knew what she was doing, but apparently it was funny. After Caleb had opened the car door, Hanna strapped the blond into her seat and tickled her belly before hopping into the passenger seat.

"This is so crazy," she muttered. Caleb had just turned on the engine and was about to reverse out of the parking lot, but stopped to face his wife.

"What is?"

" _This_ ," Hanna replied. "The baby, moving to New York. Everything's happening so fast. Like, I didn't expect to be over two months pregnant already!"

"Han, calm down. We still have seven months to go—which is plenty of time to get prepared. And as for New York, we haven't even sold our own house yet. There's no rush."

"Caleb, there _is_ a rush! It's called our unborn child and it's going to be here soon. Remember how fast my pregnancy with Maddie went?"

"I doubt this pregnancy will be the same as the one with Maddie, babe," Caleb said. He turned on the ignition and began reversing the car. He pulled up to the stop sign, checked for any other cars passing by, and when he felt it was safe, pulled out onto the road. The doctor's office was in Brookhaven, a small town adjacent to Rosewood. It wasn't a long journey back, but it was long enough for Hanna to start panicking about rushes. She was now worried that the move to New York was going to be rushed because of Caleb's job—which he tried to explain to her that he didn't actually know if he had gotten it yet. Hanna wasn't interested in what her husband had to say anymore. She was just interested in all the worries running around inside her head.

"But Ca _leb_ ," Hanna groaned as she chased the brunette through the front door. Madelyn was in front, with Caleb following behind, and Hanna even further back. "There'll be no time for _anything._ "

"What are you going on about?" Caleb asked, opening up the freezer door. He was scanning through all the foods that were stacked up high as Hanna started rambling on again.

"There'll be no time for us to decorate the nursery. There'll be no time for us to decorate any of the apartment. There won't even be time for us to have a baby shower!"

As he pulled out a ready-made salad, Caleb replied, "Why won't we have time for a baby shower?"

"We'll be too busy moving!" Hanna exclaimed. The volume of her voice nearly made Caleb jump out of his skin as he walked over to the island in the centre of the kitchen. Hanna huffed when she saw Caleb act like he didn't care, and sighed heavily. "We haven't even decided how to tell the girls I'm pregnant," the blond muttered to herself, although Caleb heard.

"Well let's decide now."

"What?" Hanna asked, taken by surprise. She hadn't realised Caleb had heard her.

"Let's decide how to tell everyone you're pregnant," the brunette explained. "We could…put it on a cake. We could sent out notes. We could—"

Hanna looked horrified. Or confused. Caleb couldn't really tell. "Send out notes?"

"Yeah. You know, put something like _Hanna and Caleb would like to announce the pregnancy of their second child._ Do you not know what I'm on about?"

Hanna shook her head. "I thought people only did that when their child is actually born." She padded over to the table and picked up the _Elle, Vogue_ and _Flaunt_ magazines that had been lying messily, moving them to where all her other mags were kept. Hanna hated things being out of place.

"Maybe they do, I don't know." Caleb shrugged and forgot about that idea. "What about having some sort of a party?"

Hanna was now filling up a glass of water from the tap, and took a sip as she contemplated the suggestion. "I like it," she said as she placed the glass on the table top. "But how can we have a party without saying what it's for?"

"Make something up."

"Like what?"

Caleb puckered his lips and squinted his eyes as he thought. "We could say we were having an early birthday party for Maddie."

The blond looked at her husband as if he were stupid. "Caleb, Maddie's birthday is in 8 months."

"It could be a surprise. No one would be expecting it." He put on a big, jokey grin, but Hanna wasn't in the mood for joking around. She rolled her eyes and started circling her index finger around the rim of her glass as she bent over the island. Caleb grabbed a bag of chips from the cupboard and pulled them open before offering one to Hanna.

Hanna declined and drumming her long nails on the counter top. "I suppose we could just have a get together or something," she suggested. "Maybe here in the backyard."

Caleb raised his eyebrows, indicating that was a good idea. "We could have a cookout."

Later that afternoon, Hanna sat on her bed, giving herself a manicure. She was FaceTiming Emily, who was currently in Paris on vacation.

"The Eiffel Tower is ah-mazing," Emily said excitedly. She moved her phone to show the blond the view from her hotel, in which you could see the tip of the Tower in the background. Hanna was definitely envious. The last vacation she'd gone on was when she was five months pregnant with Madelyn, and she and Caleb had traveled to Thailand for two weeks.

"How's everything with Paige?" Hanna asked.

"They're great!" the raven haired squealed. "In fact…" she fiddled with her phone and dropped it on the bed, so Hanna was stuck looking at the white ceiling. After a moment of kerfuffle, Emily picked the phone back up and had her hand right by the screen. "We're engaged!"

"Oh my God! Paige proposed? In Paris? Was it by the Eiffel Tower? Ooh, did you have a romantic meal?" Questions started spewing out of Hanna, but Emily had been expecting it. She was there when Aria announced her engagement to Ezra, and Hanna had done exactly the same thing then.

"Yes Paige proposed. Yes it was in Paris. Yes it was by the Eiffel Tower and yes we had a romantic meal," Emily replied simply. Hanna squealed as she saw a glimpse of the diamond ring on the camera. "Han, you seem to be more excited than me."

"This is just such an amazing moment! You and Paige are last ones to get married; we've all been waiting for this."

Caleb, hearing Hanna's squealing, poked his head around the bedroom door. "Babe, what's going on? You're going to wake Maddie with all that screaming." Madelyn had been unusually tired, so was down for a nap, and Caleb didn't really want her waking her up grumpy.

"Em's engaged!"

"What? Wow, that's awesome!" Caleb padded across the carpet and sat on the bed next to the blond. He saw Emily on Hanna's phone and grinned. "Congrats, Em!" Emily thanked him before being called by Paige. Apparently, the couple were heading over to Le Louvre for the evening.

As Hanna was about to say goodbye, she remembered her earlier conversation with Caleb. "ooh, Em! There's one more thing I need to ask you."

"Shoot," Emily replied. Paige joined her new fiancee and waved.

"Hey Paige. Caleb and I were wandering whether you two are available on the 23rd?"

"23rd?" Emily repeated. Hanna watched as Paige grabbed her own phone and do what Hanna guessed was checking her calendar. She mumbled something to Emily, who turned back to the phone. "We're free. What's going on on the 23rd?"

Hanna looked to Caleb, with an uncertain look in her eye. She didn't have a cover story, and she wasn't going to ruin the surprise right now. "Oh, it's just a…get together. I'm going to see if the other girls can come."

The raven haired looked at her friend through the phone suspiciously. "Han, what's going on? We haven't had a 'get together' in years."

"Well maybe we should start doing them more often." The blond picked at her fingernail and hoped Emily didn't catch on to anything. Thankfully, Paige reminded Emily that they _really_ had to go, and Emily hung up.

"I think she knows," Hanna breathed as she threw her phone down to the end of the bed. "She definitely knows."

"Babe, she doesn't know. And if she does, she won't tell anyone. Em wouldn't do that to you," Caleb replied in a soft, calming voice. Hanna fell back against her pillows and stared up at the ceiling.

She rested her hands on her chest and said, "I just want it to be a surprise. For everyone. Including Em."

"Have you asked everyone else if they can come?"

Hanna sighed. "No. Em was the first person I called."

"Shouldn't you called everyone else? It won't be much fun if it's only Emily and Paige there."

Hanna sighed again and sat up. "I suppose so," she groaned. "Can you call some of them though?"

"Sure," Caleb answered. "How about I call my mom, my dad, Toby and Ezra, and you call Alison, your mom and your dad?"

The blond happily agreed; at least she wouldn't have to do _all_ the calling. Caleb began heading out of the bedroom, and pulled his phone out from his back pocket as he reached the doorway. Hanna got right to the job, starting with Alison. Alison still lived in Rosewood, and even in the same house, but now lived with her husband, Elliot. Hanna was the first to admit they were a _very_ cute couple.

"Hanna, hey!" Ali's cheery voice said as she picked up.

"Hey, Ali. I was just calling to see if you were available on the 23rd?"

"Of this month?" Alison asked. "Yeah, I think I can do that. What's happening?"

"Caleb and I just wanted to see everyone again. All our parents will be here, as well as the other girls, if they can all come," Hanna explained. She carried on and told Alison where it would be—which was their backyard—what time she should arrive, and also told her to bring Elliot.

"Okay, so I've got to run, but I'll see you then?" Alison said as she attempted to wrap up the phone call.

Hanna nodded and replied with, "Yeah. Bye! Wait, Ali. We should really get coffee some time. I haven't seen you in _ages_."

Alison agreed, and repeated that she had to get going. The two girls exchanged in goodbyes before Hanna hung up. The next person on the list was her mom, which would be fun. Ashley could always— _always_ —tell when Hanna was hiding something, so Hanna knew she'd have to be extremely careful with this call.

Thankfully, Hanna handled it well enough, and Ashley didn't seem to suspect a thing. The blond couldn't help but smile to herself as she thought about this surprise. She could just picture everyone's faces when she and Caleb announced the news.

"Dad?" Hanna asked as her final call picked up. No-one answered, but Hanna could hear something on the end of the line. "Hello?"

"Hanny!" Tom exclaimed. Hanna _hated_ it when he called her that. It was like she was still a child. "Sorry, I was just finishing some work. What's going on?"

Hanna forced a smile—although she needn't. She was on the phone, her dad couldn't see her. "Caleb and I are having a small get together on the 23rd. Can you come?"

There was some crinkling of paper down the phone, and a few moments of silence, before Tom replied. "Oh, sorry Hanny. I'm busy on the 23rd. It's Elizabeth's birthday. Are you not coming to that?"

Elizabeth was Hanna's stupid, ugly, attention-seeking stepsister's daughter. Much to her surprise—and also horror—Hanna and Caleb had been invited to the first birthday party, but had politely declined, claiming they were busy. The invitation had come almost a year ago—way, way, way before Hanna and Caleb knew they would _actually_ be busy on that day. When Caleb had asked Hanna if she wanted to attend, Hanna had downright refused.

"Once again Kate comes before me," the blond muttered to herself.

"Hanna, Kate invited everyone months ago. I can't drop everything because you asked me to do something two weeks prior to whatever it is. Anyway, it's only a small get together. It's not even that important."

Hanna wanted to be mad at Tom, but it's not like he knew she was pregnant. Although, that didn't stop the feeling of neglect bubbling inside of Hanna. Her father was never there important events. He wasn't there for her high school graduation because of work, he wasn't at her college graduation because he claimed his flight got delayed—Hanna knew that was a lie and a coverup because he'd forgotten—and he wasn't their for the birth of his first grandchild. "You're right. It's not important. Bye Dad."

"I love you, Hanna."

Hanna ignored her dad's last comment. She'd heard it all too many times, but had never seen Tom actually act like he meant it. He did for Kate, but never for her.

 **A/N - you guys still don't review :((**

 **i hope you all liked this chapter. please, please, please review!**


	13. Chapter 13

Hanna wandered down to the kitchen after finishing all her calls. She found Caleb sitting on the couch, his phone plastered to his ear.

"So you can come?" Caleb asked. Hanna could hear the excitement in his voice. "Alright. I'll talk to you later, Mom. Love you! Bye." He hung up and threw his phone to the end of the couch, before noticing her standing by. Caleb smiled and patted the spot next to him, and Hanna shuffled around to sit there. She slumped back against the back and let out a long, exasperated sigh.

"My dad's not coming," Hanna announced. Caleb looked at her, confused. "He's with Kate."

"Babe, I'm sorry," Caleb replied, resting his palm on her thigh.

"It doesn't matter. I don't really care anyway."

Although she did care. And Caleb could see she cared. Hanna had cared what her dad thought of her ever since the day he walked out. She'd started shoplifting, just for his attention. All Hanna wanted was to be accepted by her own father.

Caleb, not wanting to upset his wife anymore than she already was, decided it was best to not talk about Tom Marin anymore. "What about Ali and Elliot? And your mom?"

"They can all come." The blond strained a smile and attempted to block out all thoughts of her dad from her mind. She didn't need him stressing her out, especially since she was 8 weeks pregnant. "Can the others make it?"

"Ezra and Aria definitely can. My mom can. But Spence and Toby said they needed to check," Caleb replied. "Spencer said she might have some work thing on."

Hanna nodded in understanding, but was going to keep her fingers crossed until the call came. She wanted _all_ her friends there, not all but one. "This is all so weird. This morning, I was thinking about when we announced we were pregnant with Maddie. I can't believe we're doing it for the second time."

"But this time it's going to be different," Caleb replied. Hanna looked at him oddly. What was he talking about? "It's going to be different because we're going to have a boy this time."

"Oh yeah?" Hanna smirked.

Before the brunette could answer his wife, there was a distant wail from upstairs, and Hanna suddenly remembered Maddie had been up there sleeping. "I'll go," Hanna said, jumping up from the couch. She skipped up the stairs and hurried down the hallway, into the toddler's bedroom. There, sitting on her bed, was the little blond herself. She had a _real_ bedhead. "Hey baby," Hanna whispered quietly.

"Mama," Madelyn called, her voice still sleepy and hoarse. She had her arms up, begging for Hanna to carry her. The blond sighed but smiled, and swung her daughter onto her hip.

As Hanna bounced Maddie down the stairs, she giggled out in glee. "Is that fun?" Hanna laughed. She tickled Maddie's belly, making the young blond squeal. Caleb watched his girls walk into the living room and couldn't help but smile. They were just too darn cute.

Hanna passed Madelyn over to Caleb as they reached the couch and perched herself on the arm. Maddie began jumping on her dad. "Ooh." Caleb pretended to be hurt, which seemed to egg her on more. Madelyn started smacking Caleb's face, laughing and squealing as she went.

"That's enough, Maddie," Hanna interrupted. She grabbed the toddler by the waist and removed her from the couch, placing her on the floor. "Where's Bella? Do you want to find Bella?"

"Bella!" Maddie yelled, running off. Hanna chuckled and grabbed _Vogue_ from the coffee table, before turning to her husband.

"You're wrong about the baby being a boy," the blond said casually as she began flicking through the magazine. "It's a girl. Definitely a girl."

"You're, like, 2 months pregnant, Han. How can you know for sure?"

"Mother's instinct. You seem to be pretty set on it being a boy. How do _you_ know for sure?" Hanna replied. She looked over at Caleb and raised an eyebrow, awaiting his answer. He looked around, unsure. "See, you don't. But _I_ do. So it's 100 percent a girl."

"I'm not having this argument with you again," Caleb said, sighing. Hanna grinned to herself; she always won. Bella darted through the living room, skidding on the rug as she went. Seconds later, Madelyn followed through, obviously chasing the pup around the house. She was giggling loudly and dived onto the floor when she took her chance of catching Bella. Hanna turned around quickly, worried that there would be a sudden outburst of crying, but breathed a sigh of relief when there was nothing.

A ping sound echoed around the living room and Hanna glanced at her phone. A notification had popped up, saying that she had a new email. Caleb, who had checked his own phone at the same time, looked over at his wife.

"Anyone interesting?" he asked. Caleb arose from the couch and wandered over to the kitchen. He turned on the coffee machine, grabbed a cup from the side and started tapping his foot against the floor as he waited.

"It's an email," Hanna replied slowly. She swiped across the screen and opened the email up. "It's about the job."

Caleb peered over Hanna's shoulder as he returned from the kitchen with a steaming cup of black coffee and read the email. "They want you in New York in two days?"

"Apparently so," the blond said. Hanna twisted her head around in an awkward and uncomfortable position and looked at Caleb, almost worried. "Babe, I can't go to New York in two days."

Caleb took a sip of his coffee and swerved around the couch as he headed to sit down. "Why not? Just do what I did; go for the day. You don't need to stay overnight."

Hanna shrugged. "I don't know."

"Han, you need to go to this interview if you want the job," Caleb said. He saw Hanna's expression and sighed. "I'll take the day off and look after Maddie. You won't have anything to worry about."

"I'm not worried about _that._ I'm just worried about…well, this makes it all so _real_ ," the blond replied. Caleb, who was now sitting next to his wife, raised an eyebrow. "Don't look at me like that. I know it's _real_ but this means I'll have a job in New York. You'll have a job in New York. We're going to be living in New York."

"I'm glad you've realised we're moving to New York, Han. It took you however many months, but I'm glad," Caleb said sarcastically. The blond rolled her eyes. She reached over to the coffee table and grabbed a magazine, and then brought her legs up to her chest.

As Hanna flicked through the pages, she sighed. "I'm bored. Can we go out somewhere?"

"You sound like a six-year-old." Caleb took another gulp of his coffee before leaning over and placing it on the table. "But I suppose we could. What were you thinking we could do?"

"Philly? I could really do with some new shoes," Hanna replied. She dropped her magazine onto the space next to her on the couch and turned to face Caleb. His facial expression was not as excited as hers. "Please, babe? Pretty please?"

Caleb rolled his eyes, but nodded. "If we have to. But we're not spending three hours in Saks again, okay?"

The last trip Hanna and Caleb had taken to Philadelphia for clothing needs did not end well for Caleb. Hanna ended up spending over three hours just looking at the Alexander Wang clothes. Caleb was not prepared for a situation like that to happen again.

In a matter of two hours, Hanna, Caleb and Madelyn were wandering round Victoria Secret. Caleb wasn't really comfortable walking his two-year-old daughter around a store that sold 'sexy' underwear, but Hanna persuaded him that the toddler knew no different. Maddie didn't care. She was happy weaving and running in and out of the stands.

"Caleb, do you like this?" Hanna asked. She was holding up a red, lacy piece of lingerie. Caleb liked. He definitely liked. Hanna saw her husband's eyes widen and his head slowly start nodding, a smile growing across his face. "I'll take that as a yes." She chuckled and hung the piece over her arm.

After paying in Victoria Secret, Hanna wanted to head to Michael Kors. She was hoping she could manage to get Caleb to buy her a new purse. Apparently, Maddie had other ideas. She spotted Build-a-bear Workshop and decided she would refuse to do anything other than go inside.

"Mommy!" the little blond exclaimed when her mother said no. Caleb stood back, laughing. Madelyn turned to him and gave him the exact same puppy eyes Hanna sometimes gave him. It was like looking at a mini Hanna. "Daddy? Bear?" Maddie pointed to the store on her left and pouted.

"Han, come on," Caleb said as he looked at his wife. "5 minutes in there?"

Hanna sighed. "Fine," she breathed. Madelyn squealed with delight and ran into the store, not waiting another second. Caleb grabbed his wife's hand and dragged her inside. As they walked in, Hanna and Caleb were greeted by a rather chirpy woman, dressed in what Hanna thought was a very embarrassing outfit. Sidetracking the woman, Hanna caught up with Maddie, who was now standing in front of the different bears.

The toddler pulled one from the shelf and stretched her arm out to Hanna. "Bear, Mama."

"Do you want to make a bear?" Hanna asked. She _adored_ making the bears here. Caleb joined the pair by the shelves and grabbed an unmade bear.

"How about this one?" Madelyn nodded excitedly and snatched it from her dad. Caleb took a hold of Madelyn's wrist as she began to run towards the machine that would stuff the bears. She let out a whimper and pulled against his force, hoping to be released. "You can't run off, Maddie. You need to stay with Mommy or Daddy."

Hanna happily smiled from behind as she watched her husband help their daughter stuff her bear. She'd never seen a father-daughter bond as strong as Caleb and Madelyn's, and she treasured it so much—especially since she never had that with her own dad.

"Do you want a sound in it?" Caleb asked. Madelyn nodded, grinning. She picked which one she wanted and asked Caleb to put it inside, which he happily did

"Done!" Maddie exclaimed as Caleb handed the bear back to her. The toddler turned to her mom and held it out to show her.

"That's so good, baby!" Hanna replied. She touched the fur of the stuffed bear and smiled. "Do you love it?"

"Yup!" Maddie squealed. Hanna chuckled as her daughter skipped off around the store, and followed her to the checkout.

After paying, the blond decided she didn't want to go to Michael Kors. Instead, she decided she wanted to go back to Rosewood and have a nice, long, relaxing walk in the park.

The warm summer evening air was the perfect remedy and therapy for Hanna. She'd been so stressed out about New York, a calming walk was just what she needed. Even Maddie seemed calmer than usual. The toddler would normally be running around like a madman, but she was happily strolling along, holding her dad's hand.

"Bella, sit," Caleb ordered as he released the pup from her leash. They'd collected Bella from the house while dropping the car off, and to say the dog was happy to be going on a walk was a huge understatement. Bella had practically dragged Hanna to the park as she held her leash.

"Bella," Madelyn said perfectly. Hanna looked at the toddler, shocked. Madelyn had never said a word so precisely before.

Hanna nudged Caleb's arm excitedly. "Babe, did you hear that?"

"What? Maddie saying Bella's name? She's been saying it for, like, a year, Han," Caleb replied. Hanna frowned.

"Yes, I know, but she's never said it that well before!" The blond crouched down to her daughter's level and tickled her belly. "Well done, baby."

Madelyn liked the attention she was getting from her mom and figured it was because of what she'd said, so decided she would carry on repeating Bella's name. "Bella! Bella!"

"Maddie, stop it. Bella's going crazy," Caleb said, attempting to calm Bella. The dog was barking and jumping up and down as the toddler chanted.

The young blond pouted at her dad and slumped off, stroppy. Hanna chuckled and linked her arm with Caleb's as the couple wandered after her. Bella darted off, chasing Madelyn.

"She's so cute," Hanna sighed as she watched her daughter. She rested her spare hand onto her stomach. "I hope this one's that cute."

Caleb grinned and nodded. "He will be. I'm sure of it."

Hanna rolled her eyes. " _She_ is not a _he_ , Caleb. Stop pretending she is."

Caleb smiled to himself; he found it funny how annoyed his wife got when it came to the gender of the baby. It was exactly like how she was when pregnant with Madelyn. Caleb said it was a boy, Hanna swore it was a girl. She may have been right in that instance, but Caleb knew he was right this time. It was a boy. Definitely a boy.

"Hey, Maddie. Come here, baby!" Hanna called after the toddler. Madelyn was bending down, inspecting a leaf that was buried amongst the mud. The blond let go of Caleb's arm and hurried over to the toddler, just in time before she put the leaf in her mouth. Hanna swept Maddie up into her arms and carried her like a baby back to Caleb, laughing. Maddie was laughing, too; she loved being carried like a baby. "Leaves are not supposed to be eaten by little girls, Madelyn. How many times are we going to have this conversation?"

Madelyn seemed to have somewhat of an obsession with eating leaves. Hanna and Caleb had been beginning to get worried, but the obsession had disappeared for a while. Apparently it was back.

Caleb took his daughter from Hanna's arms and moved her onto his shoulders. Madelyn squealed with delight as she gazed around the park from a new height. It was like a whole new world, and she loved it.

"Is that fun?" Hanna asked, chuckling. Maddie nodded enthusiastically and patted the top of Caleb's head.

Caleb winced and said, "Thanks, Maddie." The toddler found it hilariously funny and continued to hit her dad's head, getting harder and harder each time. "Okay, Maddie. That's enough."

"Again, again," Maddie squealed. She didn't stop, even when Caleb pulled her leg. That seemed to make it even funnier to her. Caleb began wondering what on earth goes on inside a toddler's mind. They found the oddest things funny, they never stopped when asked to, and they liked to push everyone's patience. Unfortunately for Caleb, he would never know what his daughter was thinking.

As Hanna slid her hand into her husband's, she got a sudden craving for cupcakes. "Can we stop by Leon's on the way home?" Hanna asked.

"Sure," the brunette replied simply. He adjust Maddie's position on his shoulders as neck began to ache, and started bouncing her up and down. She giggled loudly and with her cute smile, scored a few smiles and chuckles from passers-by.

Half an hour later, Hanna was staring at the range of cupcakes that stood in front of her. Her stomach rumbled at the sight, and she was desperate to eat one, but couldn't decide what flavor she wanted. Hanna let out a big groan. Who knew cupcakes could cause so much debate?

"Babe," the blond called. Caleb was sitting outside the store, watching Madelyn as she chased Bella around the table. He stood up and quickly poked his head around the door. "Can I just get all four? I can't choose."

Caleb tutted, but nodded. "Anything for you, babe," he said. Caleb knew that if he said no, Hanna wouldn't forgive him. He knew better than to come in between Hanna Rivers and her food. Hanna grinned happily and turned back to the counter, where she asked the man behind for one chocolate peanut butter cupcake; one red velvet; one vanilla, and one chocolate marshmallow. Her cravings would certainly be satisfied. Before leaving Lucky Leon's, Hanna got a plain, milk chocolate cupcake for Maddie, and a second chocolate peanut butter cupcake for Caleb.

"Okay, let's go," Hanna said as she stepped outside the door. Caleb arose from his chair and called for Bella to come over. Madelyn was on her dad's phone, and was so engrossed, she was unaware that her mom had come outside. Hanna stood over the toddler and raised an eyebrow. "Maddie? Do you want to come home or…"

Maddie jumped at the sound of Hanna's voice and looked up. She slowly slid off of her chair and walked around the table to Caleb, who she then passed his phone to. Caleb grabbed it, put it in his back pocket before crouching down to attach Bella's leash.

"Can I have your hand, baby?" Hanna asked her daughter as she held out her own. Maddie smiled and gave her mom her hand. She contentedly walked next to Hanna as they began heading home, with Caleb and Bella the other side.

As they turned down the end of the street, Hanna looked up at the sky and saw the sunset. The oranges and reds merged together to create a stunning, beautiful scene. "Babe, wait," she said to Caleb. Hanna reached into her purse and pulled out her IPhone, swiped up to reveal the camera, and snapped a few shots. "It's so pretty," Hanna whispered to herself as she checked the photos.

Caleb was getting impatient—he didn't really care about the sky. He began walking off the second Hanna dropped her phone back into her bag, and urged her to hurry up.

It didn't take long to arrive home, and when they did, both Hanna and Caleb immediately opened up the cupcake box and indulged in the cakes.

Hanna let out a heavenly sigh as she took her first bite. She was now sat at the table and had her chin resting in one hand, and the cupcake sitting in the other. "These are _soo_ good."

Caleb nodded, agreeing and looked at his daughter and let out a laugh. She had chocolate smeared all over and had a big grin plastered on her face. "Maddie, are you enjoying that?" Madelyn nodded over-excitedly and stuffed her face into the cupcake.

Hanna finished her peanut butter cake, and automatically reached for the vanilla one. "These cravings are going to make me fat," she moaned as she unwrapped it. Hanna didn't _want_ to eat a second cupcake, but this baby seemed to be _making_ her.

"I'm just going to the bathroom," Caleb said, scraping his chair back against the floor. Hanna smiled, acknowledging this, but went back to eating.

"Finished!" Maddie announced. "Me down?" Hanna put aside her half-eaten cupcake and nodded, leaving the table herself.

Madelyn ran into her playroom and headed straight for her pink play-kitchen. Hanna smiled; Aria had bought Maddie the play-kitchen as soon as Hanna announced she was having a daughter. Hanna and Caleb had both thought how eager it was, but it had turned out to come in very handy. It could keep Madelyn occupied for hours, and she adored playing restaurants with Mommy and Daddy.

"What are we making today?" Hanna asked as she knelt by the kitchen. Maddie was rummaging through the plastic cupboard and brought out a small, pink, fake plate. "Should we make…pizza?"

"Yeah! Pizza!" the little blond yelled. She grabbed a slice of fake pizza and dropped it onto the plate before shoving it into the pretend stove.

"What's going on in here?" Caleb, who was walking through the doorway, asked. He saw the two blonds by the kitchen and Hanna's face, and played along. "It smells so good, Maddie!"

Caleb wandered over to join Hanna and Madelyn, and sat cross-legged by them. Maddie handed a tiny cup over to each of her parents. "Juice," Madelyn said.

"Thank you," Hanna and Caleb said at the same time. They looked at each other and chuckled, but Maddie didn't let the attention move away from her. She patted them both on the shoulders and gave them a plate each, both with a slice of plastic pizza on it.

Caleb pretended to take a bite and chew whilst nodding. "This tastes _really_ good, Mads."

"My favorite!" Hanna exclaimed.

Almost two hours later, after many "meals", Hanna announced it was time for Madelyn to go to bed. She tried to put up a fight—which involved tears and tantrums—but was carried away, kicking and screaming. Caleb stayed behind in the playroom, picking up all the pieces of his daughter's toy kitchen.

"Madelyn, stop kicking," Hanna said sternly as she sat Maddie on her bed. The toddler let out a loud wail and tried to run past her mom, but was caught before she could move a meter. "Sit down, Madelyn."

"Mommy," the toddler cried.

Hanna let out a loud sigh, but couldn't let the firmness break in her voice. "Let me get you changed."

"No Mommy," Madelyn replied. "No bed."

"Yes Mommy. Yes bed," the blond said. She quickly turned around and grabbed a pair of Maddie's pajamas. "Come on. Let me change you."

There were real tears rolling down Madelyn's cheeks, not just fake ones like usual. She was adamant about not going to bed. Hanna tried to pull his daughter's shirt over her head, but Madelyn wriggled too much.

"Madelyn!" she shouted.

Caleb, who had finished tidying up the playroom, was wandering into the living room when he heard Hanna shouting. He immediately knew something was up; Hanna never shouted that loudly at Maddie. Caleb hurried up the stairs to find the toddler red-faced and screaming, and Hanna flustered and frustrated.

"Madelyn Ava Rivers, sit your ass down right this second," Caleb said loudly as he entered the bedroom. Madelyn stopped crying, sat down on the bed and sniffled. "Let Mommy get you changed, lie down, and go to sleep, okay?"

Hanna leant against the bedroom wall and sighed, exasperated—thank God for Caleb. Maddie loosened up and let Hanna change her quickly, and even walked through to the bathroom by herself, after only being asked once. After brushing her teeth and washing her face, Hanna silently led the blond back to the bedroom and laid her in bed.

Unlike usual, Hanna didn't offer to read a bedtime story. She didn't even give Madelyn a proper kiss. Instead, she said, "Goodnight, Madelyn," before walking to the door, switching the light off, and leaving.

Caleb was standing outside in the hallway, and when Hanna spotted him, she collapsed into his arms.

"How am I going to cope with another baby when Madelyn acts like that?" she asked, muffled. The blond turned her head so her face was no longer buried in his shirt, and took a deep breath in and out.

"I'll always be here, Hanna. It's not you alone. It's us," Caleb replied. Hanna pulled back and looked up at her husband. She stared deep into his eyes and stood up on her tip-toes, and connected her lips with his.

 **A/N - i'm sorry this has been such a long time coming! ive been so busy lately, and its taken me longer than usual to write a chapter.**

 **to make up for it, i tried to make this longer than the other chapters. i hope you all liked it!**

 **please review!**


	14. Chapter 14

It was half past seven in the morning and Hanna had been staring inside her closet for a good fifteen minutes. She couldn't decide whether she wanted to wear a skirt or a dress. Caleb was fast asleep, so she couldn't ask him for advice, and there was no-one Hanna could ask. It was her first interview about a possible job, and the blond wanted to look her absolute best. But then again, she didn't want to look like she was trying too hard.

In the end, she went for neither. Hanna decided on a colorful, summery playsuit, which she matched with a pair of ankle-strap white heels.

Waiting for her mom to come and get her, Madelyn was sitting on her bed, playing with Bella. The dog was trying to grab her own tail, but was failing miserably, and Maddie thought it was the funniest thing ever. Hanna didn't see the amusement. She wandered into the bedroom and padded across the pink carpet, where she swung the toddler into her arms.

"Good morning," Hanna said perkily, kissing her daughter on the cheek. She stopped by the bedroom door and turned her head around, calling for the dog to follow. "Bella, come." Bella's tiny paws trotted across the floor and followed Hanna down the staircase. She followed Hanna down the hallway, through the living room and kitchen, and out into the backyard. The pup went crazy and started haring around the yard.

Hanna, however, calmly and slowly sat down on a lounge chair, which was positioned in the perfect place for the sun to hit at just the right amount. Despite how early in the morning it was, the typical Rosewood summer's day was already heating up nicely. Maddie was still in the process of waking up, and curled into a ball on her mother's lap. She had just an oversized shirt on for her pajamas, but Hanna could tell the toddler was already warm.

"Hey," a croaky voice said from behind. The blond twisted her head enough to see Caleb standing at the door, his arms stretching up. He had nothing but a pair of boxer shorts on and Hanna nearly drooled over Madelyn's head.

"Morning," Hanna replied. She turned around as Caleb made his way over to her and Maddie. He slumped onto the chair next to Hanna's and took a deep breath in, and then out.

The brunette squinted in the sunlight and moved his hand to block his eyes. "Why are you dressed so early?" he asked Hanna.

"Because I'm going to New York. Did you seriously forget?"

"No. Of course not," Caleb muttered. He did forget. And Hanna knew he forgot. But Hanna didn't have the energy to have a go at Caleb. She was happy staring at his perfectly toned abs; she didn't want any arguments. "When are you going?"

Madelyn started moving about on Hanna's lap, so she carefully slid her off and let the toddler run wild and free. "In…" The blond pulled out her phone from her back pocket and glanced at the time, "about half an hour."

And half an hour later, Hanna was standing in the driveway. In front of her was Caleb, with Maddie sitting on his shoulder. The blond stood on her tip-toes to give the toddler a big kiss goodbye. "I love you, Maddie," she smiled.

"Love oo, Mama," Madelyn replied. She stretched down and tried to wrapped her tiny arms around Hanna's neck, but failed when she nearly toppled off Caleb.

Hanna chuckled and focused on Caleb, giving him a long, passionate kiss. "I love you, babe," she mumbled as she pulled away. Caleb replied with the same set of words, and gave his wife one last kiss on her forehead as she began to walk away. "Have fun today!" Hanna called out as she reached her car.

Maddie waved enthusiastically and attempted to blow kisses to Hanna. "Bye, bye Mommy!"

"Bye, baby!" the blond said. She ducked down and slid into the driver's seat of her car and dropped her purse on the passenger's. Caleb had turned around and was heading back inside the house, but Madelyn was still waving and looking at her mom. Hanna gave a small wave before the toddler disappeared.

Almost 4 hours later, Hanna arrived in the bustling city that was New York. It had taken her longer than usual, but she placed that down to the fact it was summer and all the tourists were out. _I'll have to get used to this,_ she thought to herself.

As she stepped out of the car, Hanna checked her phone. She had a message from Spencer regarding the get-together that was happening in the next week, and a message from Caleb asking whether she got to New York safely. After replying to both, the blond straightened out her clothes, cleared her throat, pushed her hair behind her ears, and walked towards the building in front of her.

"You must be Hanna," a dark-haired woman said as Hanna wandered inside. "I'm Marlee. It's so good to finally meet you." Marlee held out her hand and Hanna gave it a quick shake, before being ushered to follow Marlee down a wide hallway. Marlee was in front of the blond, leading the way, but every so often turned her head back. "I'm sorry we had to schedule this meeting so quickly, but we were all so eager to meet you."

"I'm so happy you're considering me for the job!" Hanna replied excitedly. She was taken into a bleak, white office and directed to sit on a rather uncomfortable looking chair. Hanna gingerly sat down, and placed her purse by her feet as Marlee took a seat opposite.

"Now, Hanna." Marlee's voice became hard and serious, like she was getting down to business. "Do you know what this job requires of you?"

The blond nodded vigorously. "Yes."

Marlee clasped her hands together on the desk and took a deep breath in. "Well, Hanna. Myself and the other producers think you'd be perfect for this job. The only problem is that you have no previous experience working on a set."

Hanna didn't know how to reply. She didn't really have much experience anywhere, let along a movie set. The only jobs Hanna had ever had were working in a small clothes store in Rosewood, and working in the local coffee shop by her college. "I really think I could do well in this job."

"So do I, Hanna," Marlee replied. She reached into a drawer and pulled out multiple pieces of paper that Hanna recognized. "These designs you sent us were incredible. But, most upcoming costume designers start off as something like a wardrobe assistant."

"Oh, uh, okay." Hanna was sure this interview was over. She looked down at her lap and started picking at the polish on her thumbnail.

"But we're willing to give you a go," Marlee said, her voice chirping up.

The blond's head rose up and her mouth dropped slightly. "Really?"

"We'll need you to start on the 28th of this month, when filming begins."

"Yes, yes. Of course! Thank you so much!" Hanna couldn't hide her excitement, and it just seemed to burst out of her at once. But within a few seconds, it began to come crashing down. Hanna was worried her pregnancy would jeopardize the whole job offer. "There was something I needed to check with you, if that's okay."

Marlee had a warm smile and nodded. "Sure. Go ahead."

"Well, uh, a couple of months ago, I found out that I was, um, pregnant. Will that, uh, affect anything?" Hanna stuttered. She'd never felt so nervous before.

"Filming is due to take about five to seven months. You don't look that far along," Marlee gestured to Hanna's stomach, the stomach Hanna was trying to cover up. There was no bump there, but Hanna couldn't help but feel ever so slightly self-conscious, "so will that be a problem?"

"I'm three months," Hanna said. "But I'm sure I can work up to about eight months. That should be enough time, right?"

Three hours later, after a very long conversation with Hanna's new boss, the blond stepped out of the building feeling refreshed. That feeling didn't last long, though, as she was hit with a blast of warm air. The temperature seemed to have risen and risen throughout the day, and Hanna just wanted to get into an air conditioned space—like her car.

 _How did everything go?_ Hanna read as she pulled her phone from her purse. The message was from Caleb, and she was eager to share everything with him, but decided to keep the reply short and sweet—but only because she was saving all the excitement for when she arrived home.

 _It was good. Everything went well. Be back soon. Love you._

Hanna slid her phone back into her tote purse and swapped it for the car keys, which she shoved into the ignition to turn on the engine. The car rumbled to life, and soon, Hanna was back on the busy roads of New York.

"Come on," the blond muttered, drumming her fingers against the steering wheel. She'd made it out of the city, but now in the suburbs, the traffic had come to a standstill. Hanna poked her head out of the car window in an attempt to see what was holding everybody up, but the only things in view for miles and miles were more cars. Hanna wasn't used to having such a quiet car journey. She normally always had either Caleb, Maddie, or both with her. "Come on, come on."

There was no movement for the next three hours. Hanna was sat impatiently waiting in her Range Rover, hoping and praying someone somewhere would move. She was at a point in time where she was ready to give up and kill herself. As the blond sat picking at a piece of material that was peeling off of the car door, her phone started buzzing from within the depths of her Gucci bag. It was clear no-one would be moving for a while, so she decided to quickly grab her cell and check who wanted what.

It an incoming phone call from Caleb, probably wandering where the hell she was.

"Where the hell are you?!" Caleb's voice exclaimed as she answered the call. He could hear honking sounds in the background, and was suddenly very confused. "Are you driving?"

"No," Hanna replied, sounding cheesed-off.

"So why does it sound like you are? Where _are_ you?"

"I'm in the car, I'm just not _moving_." Hanna let out a groan as she heard another car turn off the engine. It didn't look like she was going anywhere soon. "I hate New York and their stupid roads and their stupid traffic."

"You hate New York?" Caleb asked, bemused.

"I don't hate New York _itself._ I just hate everything that comes along with it," Hanna explained. "Like the freaking traffic!" She banged her fists against the steering wheel and ended up dropping her phone. Hanna quickly raced to pick it up and gave it a check-over to make sure it wasn't cracked. Thankfully, it wasn't, and she let out a huge sigh of relief. "Sorry, I dropped my phone."

"Babe, when are you going to be home?"

The blond sighed again and shrugged, although Caleb couldn't see that. "I don't know," she said as she breathed out slowly. "Probably next week at this rate."

There was a small laugh on the other end of the line and Caleb smiled to himself. Madelyn was sitting down by his feet, pretending to paint his toenails. In actual fact, she wasn't pretending—as she'd actually opened up one of Hanna's polishes—she just wasn't painting Caleb's toes, she was painting his entire foot. Hanna would be cracking up with laughter if she were there to see it. "Where are you stuck? Is there no other way you can get home?"

"If there was, don't you think I would have gone that way three freaking hours ago?"

"I was just asking, Han." Caleb cleared his throat and nudged Bella away, who had just joined the nail polish party. "Well, let me know if there's any trouble and you need me to get you."

"Thank you, babe. But honestly, there's no way you could come and get me. I'm completely stuck in between thousands of cars," the blond replied, glancing out of the car's window. "I'll be home as soon as I can. I love you."

Hanna cheered with joy when the car in front of her finally switched on it's engine and started slowly moving forwards. She was desperate to get home and tell Caleb about the job—it had been a struggle not to just announce it over the phone.

Finally, after an extra four hours of driving—well, not really driving, just waiting—Hanna drove past the _Welcome to Rosewood_ sign and grinned to herself.

"Finally," she whispered, pulling into the driveway. After throwing her keys into her purse, Hanna hurried to the front door. She gave a quiet tap, and Caleb was quick to answer. The blonde nearly fell through the door.

"Mommy!" Maddie exclaimed, throwing herself into Hanna's arms before Caleb could even say a word. Hanna let out an "oomph" sound and chuckled. "Miss oo!"

"I missed you too, baby," Hanna replied. She rested her hand on the back of Maddie's head and smiled. But after a couple of seconds, the toddler became restless and wanted to get down, so Hanna carefully placed Madelyn on the floor and watched her skip off towards her playroom.

"I'm never driving again," she announced, dropping her purse on the floor.

Caleb followed his wife, chuckling. "Oh yeah?"

Hanna was pulling off one of her heels and looked up at Caleb. "That was horrible."

"Did everything go okay?"

The blond looked up and waited for a moment before smiling. "I got it."

"You did?" Caleb answered, wide-eyed. Hanna stood up and nodded. "Babe, that's amazing!"

Hanna wanted to jump up and down on the spot, she was so excited. Holding all her excitement in for four hours and finally being able to tell Caleb made her want to burst. She wrapped her arms around Caleb's neck and held on tight. "We finally have everything sorted," she mumbled into Caleb's neck.

"Maddie's eaten, but I was waiting for you. Have you eaten?" Caleb asked as he starting wandering into the kitchen. Hanna left her heels by the front door and followed him.

"No," she replied. "And I'm starving." The blond opened up the refrigerator and stared inside for a moment. Her stomach was growling, she was so hungry, but nothing seemed to jump out at her. She leant in and pulled out leftover lasagne, considered eating it, but shoved it back in. Hanna turned to Caleb, who was checking his phone, and sighed. "Can we order in a pizza?"

Caleb left his phone on the side and walked over to Hanna, wrapping his arms around her waist from behind. "I can make you something if you want," he suggested. Hanna turned and faced him, a big smile spreading across her face.

"You wouldn't mind?" Hanna asked. Caleb didn't reply, but instead gave his wife a lingering kiss. Hanna pulled back suddenly and announced, "I think I want meatloaf."

Caleb rolled his eyes, but smiled, and started walking backwards. He grabbed a few of the ingredients that happened to be lying on the counter. Hanna smiled again before

heading off to find Maddie.

The toddler was sitting in the middle of the floor, chatting away to herself as she held two dolls in her hands. Hanna stopped by the doorway and just stayed there, watching her and grinning. Madelyn must have sensed someone was there, as, after a couple of minutes, she turned around and waved.

"Can I come and play?" Maddie nodded enthusiastically and held out one of her babies to her mom. Hanna walked over and sat down, crossing her legs. She took the doll and started to rock it back and forth, just as Maddie was doing with her doll.

Fifteen minutes later, Caleb poked his head around the door. "We don't have enough garlic so I'm just going to run to store quickly, okay?"

"Sure," the blond replied, looking up for a quick second.

Caleb watched Hanna and Madelyn for a moment, and then headed back into the foyer and out of the door, grabbing his keys as he went. Hanna focused back on Maddie, but heard her phone buzz in her purse back in the hallway.

"I'll be right back, baby," she said, standing up. Hanna hurried out of the door and found her phone lit up with Spencer's name written on the screen. Hanna clicked answer and said, "Spence, hey!"

"How did your interview go today? Did you get the job?"

Hanna started walking back into the playroom but stopped to squeal, "I did! I got it!"

"Oh my God, Han. That's amazing! I'm so happy for you!" Spencer replied.

Just the previous night, Hanna had spent over three hours on the phone to Spencer, catching up on everything they'd missed in each others lives. One topic of conversation was the Rivers' move to New York, and mainly Hanna's interview. It was times like those when Hanna missed her best friends, all four of them. She missed hanging out with them every day like she did when she was eighteen, and she missed talking about all her problems to one—or all—of them.

"I seriously can't wait to see you next week," Hanna breathed down the phone. "We haven't been in one place together for ages."

"I miss you so much, Han," Spencer said. Hanna was sure she heard the crack in her best friend's voice, and was wandering she, herself, was going to start crying.

Before the blond could say anything else, Maddie called for her from inside the playroom.

"I'll be right there, Maddie!" Hanna called out. "Spence, I'm going to have to go—Maddie wants me. I'll see you next week! I love you!"

"I love you, too," Spencer said before hanging up. Hanna kept her phone in her hand as she wandered back to Madelyn, who was looking rather upset at the disappearance of her mom. Her face lit up when Hanna walked back in.

As the blond knelt down by her daughter, she was handed the same doll as before. "You know what, baby? I think it's time for bed."

"No! Play, Mommy," Madelyn replied. She tried to shove the baby doll into Hanna's arms, but Hanna had to stand up to stop her. "Mama!"

Hanna held out her hand for Madelyn to take. "Come on, Maddie. Bed." When the toddler shook her head in refusal, Hanna knelt down. "Maddie, you need to come to bed," she said in a much softer, calmer tone. "What if I read you a story when we get up there?"

"Fine," Madelyn groaned. Hanna couldn't help but laugh: there was so much attitude in Maddie's voice, she sounded just like Hanna did. The toddler gave her mom her hand and followed her down the hallway and up the stairs.

"Which pajamas do you want tonight?" Hanna asked, holding up a pair of Disney princess pajamas and a pair with puppies on. Maddie pouted as she thought, and then pointed to the Disney pair. "Princess pajamas it is."

As Hanna took Madelyn's shirt off and was about to put her pajama one on, she heard the front door slam.

"Han? Where are you?" Caleb yelled.

"Upstairs!" Hanna called back. "I'm putting Maddie to bed!"

Caleb nodded to himself and headed through to the kitchen, where he carried on with his cooking. Hanna continued to change Madelyn, proceeding to take her into the bathroom to clean her teeth and wash her face.

It took an added ten more minutes than usual, but once Hanna had gotten Maddie to sleep, she breathed a sigh of relief. All she wanted now was to eat.

"Oh my God, babe. This smells _so_ good!" Hanna exclaimed as she walked into the kitchen. Caleb was standing by the stove, plating up the meatloaf Hanna had asked for. He turned around and smiled, holding two plates of steaming food. Hanna followed him to the table, where Caleb pulled out a chair for her. "Thank you," she said, grinning. Before sitting down himself, Caleb lit the scented candle that permanently sat in the center of the table. "I wasn't quite expecting this when you said you'd make dinner."

"I don't strive to disappoint," Caleb replied as he sat down. Hanna picked up her knife and fork and dug right in. The first bite tasted like a little piece of heaven. She hadn't realized how much she had really been craving her husband's meatloaf.

"You can seriously cook, babe," she said after taking another bite. "You should do it more often."

"I'm happy letting you cook." Caleb smirked at Hanna and took a sip of the beer he'd previously put on the table. "I'm so happy you got the job. Congrats, babe."

"I love you," Hanna said quietly. With the candle light flickering, the kitchen lights dim, and the moonlight shining in through windows, this was definitely the kind of romantic dinner Hanna wanted every night.

"I love you, too," Caleb replied.

 **A/N - omg im so sorry this took a week to upload. i ended up writing chapter 15 before this chapter so it took me even longer to write this one. sorry!**

 **to the guest who asked about One More Chance, i haven't yet decided if im going to continue it. the original idea was that i would take a break from writing it, but go back and finish it a few weeks later. well lately, ive really been getting into writing this story and thinking of ideas for my next, so im not sure. hopefully i'll find the time to finish it! of course, i'll let you know what i choose.**

 **thank you to everyone who takes the time to review. i seriously love you all so much, and its highly appreciated.**

 **keep reviewing!**


	15. Chapter 15

"Babe!" Hanna called from the living room. She was sitting on the couch with her legs crossed and her computer carefully balancing on her lap. Caleb came running through, thinking something was wrong from the shriek in Hanna's voice.

"What?" he puffed, out of breath.

"Someone's put an offer on the house!" Hanna squealed. "They want to buy it!"

The brunette raised his eyebrows, impressed, and wandered over to the couch where Hanna sat. He read the email over her shoulder, and a smile grew across his face. "Wow. That's so much more than we asked for. They must _really_ want this house."

Hanna twisted her head around and grinned. "Isn't this amazing? We can finally go to New York!"

—

Two days later and the day to announce the pregnancy to everyone had finally arrived.

Hanna awoke early, eager to start getting everything prepared. She had decided only the week before that she was going to decorate the backyard herself, with no help allowed.

"But why by yourself?" Caleb had questioned when Hanna told him. "I don't want you having to stress yourself out over the decorations."

"Babe," Hanna said calmly, resting her hand on her husband's arm. "I'm going to decorate the backyard, okay? Laying out a few plates and hanging a few lights is hardly a stressful job."

Caleb reluctantly agreed. He shrugged it off, knowing he was never going to get through to Hanna. Hanna had happily skipped away, already planning what she would be doing.

On the morning of the announcement, Caleb was dancing around the kitchen as he served up fresh, warm pancakes. The smell wafted from within the kitchen all the way to the bathroom upstairs, and Hanna immediately sprinted through the house to find them. She had been having a craving for pancakes _forever._ Maybe this would be the food she would be obsessed with this pregnancy…

With Madelyn's pregnancy, Hanna was obsessed with sweet potato. Anything sweet potato would satisfy her craving, but she couldn't go a meal without some…even breakfast. Caleb would cringe every time he saw his wife eating left over sweet potato fries at half past seven in the morning. That was one thing he was glad was over when Maddie was born.

"These smell _so_ good," Hanna said as she walked into the kitchen. After taking a seat next to Madelyn at the table, she dived right in and began stuffing her face full of Nutella-flavored pancakes. They tasted just as good as they smelt, and Hanna wanted more before she'd even finished the first serving.

"Well, I'm glad you like them," Caleb laughed as he watched from the oven. Maddie seemed to like them too, but she ate a little more slowly than her mom. He grabbed himself a plate and joined them both. As Caleb took a bite and swallowed, he looked over at Hanna, who was now taking a sip of the orange juice he had left for her. "So, how are we actually going to tell everyone?"

Hanna gulped and dropped the glass onto the table. "I was thinking before we ate."

"Before? I was thinking after."

"Why after?" the blond asked, sounding almost disgusted.

"I don't know," Caleb shrugged. "Why should we do it before?"

"Because I'm the pregnant one out of the two of us and what I say goes."

The brunette rolled his eyes. That was the same excuse Hanna gave for every nowadays. "Really? That again?"

Hanna smirked smugly and took another bite of her pancake.

10 minutes later and Hanna was busying around the house, trying to find the right outfit for Maddie. The toddler couldn't care less about what she wore, but Hanna wanted everything perfect. Hanna eventually settled on a short, floral-printed jumpsuit and a pair of brown bohemian sandals. She left the toddler's blond curls flow loosely, but decided she would later put on a summery hate on.

Once Hanna was a hundred percent sure she was happy with Madelyn's look, she started to get changed herself. The blond spent over half an hour applying her makeup, carefully making sure it didn't look too heavy. She covered her face in a matte powder before leaving the bathroom, leaving it available to Caleb, who quickly jumped into the shower.

The previous night, Hanna had laid out her outfit on the chair by her dressing table. Before changing from her pajamas into her dress, Hanna suddenly stopped to think.

 _Since when did I start wanting today to go so perfectly?_ she thought to herself. It was true. Hanna hadn't expected herself to want everything—down to outfit choices—done precisely. Yes, she wanted to decorate the backyard herself, but that was because she enjoyed doing things like that. The blond put it down to hormones. This pregnancy had been making her do really weird things.

Now changed—wearing a loose-fitting, short, pink dress—Hanna wandered into the backyard, telling herself over and over again not to get worked up if Maddie ruined her jumpsuit. The toddler was running up and down yard, playing with Caleb and Bella.

The first thing on Hanna's list to do was to get the table ready. She glanced over to where the table was and noticed how little chairs were should have been at least ten, but there were only three.

"Babe," Hanna called out. Caleb looked up, still with Maddie running around his legs. "Where's the rest of the chairs?"

Caleb furrowed his eyebrows. Where _were_ they? He remembered using them for something, but what that something was was beyond him. "Maybe check the garage?" he suggested, a questionable tone to his voice.

Hanna sighed and stomped away. She found the keys to the garage in a bowl by the front door and walked outside, ready to unlock the garage door.

Inside the garage was a complete and utter mess. "Jesus," Hanna muttered as she gazed around. It was full of old bed parts, a motorcycle Caleb still hadn't gotten around to fixing up, random tools. Hanna thought it was disgusting, but she wasn't going to tidy it. It was Caleb's mess, it was Caleb's job. Seven chairs were in the corner, rags and sheets hanging over them. From what it looked like, Hanna guessed Caleb had brought Maddie in here to build a fort.

One by one, Hanna carried the chairs through the house—carefully as to not knock any of the vases on the floor—and into the backyard. It took longer than planned, but after grabbing a few of the chairs from the kitchen, the table was set up. Now all that was needed was some color.

Hanna laid a dark red runner down the center of the glass table, and matched the napkins to it. She brought out wine glasses, plastic cups, plates and the cutlery and placed a set in front of each seat.

"What do you think?" Hanna asked as she heard Caleb walk up behind her. She stood back, staring at her work. "Does it look okay?"

"It looks great, babe," Caleb whispered, wrapping his arms around her waist. Hanna let out a small squeal as he started kissing the side of her neck, but pulled away fast when she saw Maddie come running over.

"What's up, bug?" the blond said, crouching down to the toddler's height.

"Drink?" Maddie asked.

Hanna stood back up. "What's the magic word?"

Maddie gave her version of "please" and followed her mom inside. "Juice!" she exclaimed, seeing the cartoon of SunnyD lying out on the counter. Caleb had picked it up from the store the previous night, and had obviously forgotten to put it away.

"No, baby. That's for later," Hanna replied gently. She opened up the refrigerator and scanned through the cans and cans of different beverages, hoping to find the CapriSuns she had bought. The CapriSuns were buried deep in the back, hiding amongst the beers and sodas. Hanna grabbed one and showed it to the toddler. "What about this?"

"Mmm," Maddie hummed, thinking. "Okay!"

Hanna found a cup in the cupboard and carefully poured the drink into it, before handing it over to Maddie. She made sure to fasten the lid on tightly, knowing for well the cup would be flung about the yard when Maddie went back outside.

Hanna was absolutely right. The second Madelyn found Caleb by her swings, she threw the cup onto the grass and sprinted over to him.

"You want to swing?" Caleb asked as he swung his daughter into his arms. Maddie nodded excitedly and started pulling towards the swings.

Hanna made sure Madelyn was happy and occupied—she didn't need anymore interruptions. Next on the list was food. After long discussions with Caleb about what to cook, they had both decided on the good ol' classic grilled food. That way, they could cater for the toddlers, the vegetarians, and everyone else.

—

Three hours later, the River's backyard was bustling with people. In one corner, Caleb stood by the grill, talking with Ted, Ezra, Toby and his dad, Jamie. In the other corner, Maddie, Chloe and Spencer's two sons, Elijah and James, chased each other around. Hanna mingled with her mom, Claudia, and her four best friends. She was using all her power to not just spill the news about the pregnancy right there and then, she was that excited to tell everyone.

Aria was holding her son, Caden, and bouncing him up and down on her hip, but he suddenly reached out towards Hanna. Aria gave the blond a look, as if to ask _do you want him?_ Hanna nodded enthusiastically and took the baby into her arms, holding him above her face.

"Hi baby Caden," she cooed as she brought him into a cradling position. She couldn't wait to have her own again. Caden gurgled back at her and smiled a big, toothless grin. "Oh, you're so cute!"

"Han, the foods ready!" Caleb yelled across the yard. The blond looked over at him and nodded, before reluctantly handing baby Caden back to his mom. She directed everybody towards the table and took he own seat at the end. As the adults took their seats and the children squabbled over who was sitting where, Hanna gave Caleb a nervous glance. "I love you," he mouthed.

Hanna smiled and blushed slightly. 7 years together and hearing—or seeing—those words still made her feel fuzzy and melt inside.

"Okay, so these are the burgers," Caleb said as he began placing food in trays up and down the table.

Dozens of burgers, hot dogs and corn on the cobs later, Hanna and Caleb stood at the foot of the table with everyone staring at them. Hanna felt an unnerving sense of pressure—she hated being stared at. She gripped Caleb's hand tightly and held onto his arm, although she knew, deep down, that there was nothing to feel nervous about.

"So," Hanna began. You would never have believed Hanna had already done this once before. "There was something Caleb and I wanted to share with everyone."

Ashley's grin was already forming; she knew what was about to come.

"We're pregnant!" the blond exclaimed.

After a moment of stunned silence, there were bursts of cheer and clapping. Both Ashley and Claudia simultaneously jumped up to give the couple a big hug, and ended up hugging as the four of them.

Next was Spencer, Aria, Emily and Alison, who all hugged Hanna at the same time. Caleb was congratulated by Ezra and Toby, and then Ted.

Maddie, Chloe, Elijah and James had no idea what was going on, so decided to create a conversation of their own, at which they burst out in huge amounts of laughter.

"Oh my God!" Emily squealed as she jumped up and down next to Hanna. "I'm going to be an aunt again!"

—

"Congrats again, man," Toby said, patting Caleb on the back. Spencer gave Hanna one last hug before stepping out of the front door, down the front yard and headed to her car. She was only in town for one more night, and needed more beauty sleep before saying back home the next day. After everyone else had flooded out of the house, Hanna gave a happy sigh and slowly made her way to the living room.

Caleb was already sitting on the couch, waiting for his wife to join. Hanna slumped into the space next to him and cuddled into Caleb's arms.

"We're going to have to clear everything up," she mumbled. Caleb rolled his eyes, but smiled. Trust Hanna to start thinking about tidying up the second the party's over.

"Babe, just relax," he said, stroking the blond's arm. "We don't need to clear it away until tomorrow."

Hanna stared at the ceiling and started replaying the day's events in her head. "Maddie was so hyper today," she suddenly said, laughing. "Did you see her when she was trying to hang upside down on the adventure thing with Chloe?"

"Oh yeah, and then she fell onto her head," Caleb replied, laughing too. Hanna gave one last laugh and sighed. "Babe, I'm so glad we did this."

"Did what?" Hanna asked, twisting her head around to look at Caleb.

"Everything," he said. That answers took Hanna by surprise. She was expecting him to say something about just sitting together, but his actual response was surprising. "Got together. Got married. Had kids."

Hanna smiled. "Where did that come from?"

The brunette shrugged and looked away from his wife, as if he were embarrassed. Hanna laughed and sat up, placed her palm against his cheek, and pressed her lips against his.

"I'm glad we did it too," she whispered.

—

"Oh my God. Look at this one, babe!" Hanna squealed, pointing to a Labrador puppy. The family were in the local animal shelter, finally getting the second dog they had wanted for so long. Caleb scooted Maddie along and joined Hanna. Even his heart melted when he saw the puppy. It was chocolate colored and had the biggest eyes Caleb had ever seen on a dog. "Isn't he cute?"

"He is," Caleb agreed, nodding. Hanna pulled out her phone and snapped a picture of the pup, ready to send to all of her friends on Snapchat. She wanted to make them as jealous as possible. Madelyn spotted a dog at the end of the row and skipped over to it. As she reached the cage, she decided to sit on the floor and stick her fingers through the rails.

"Maddie, no. Don't do that," Hanna called, spotting what her daughter was doing. "It might bite you." When the toddler didn't listen, Hanna shuffled over to her and was about to pull her way when she saw what was locked up.

Inside the cage was a group of the most beautiful dogs she had ever seen. They were a tiny, fluffy things, with the bluest of eyes, all bustling about, tumbling over each other.

"A golden retriever and Siberian husky mix," Caleb read out loud, standing behind Hanna. "There's three girls and four boys in there."

"I like that one." Hanna pointed to a gray and white spotted puppy right at the back of the litter. There were dark rings on it's face, emphasizing it's colored eyes. Maddie was still sitting on the floor staring, mesmerized. "Mads, which one do you like?"

"Tis one, Mama," she said, pointing to the same one as Hanna had been pointing at. Hanna then looked over to Caleb with a hopeful gleam in her eye.

"Which one do you like, babe?"

"The one you two both said is definitely cute," Caleb said slowly.

A woman came over from the entrance to the shelter, dressed in a khaki green button-up shirt. "Can I help you two with anything?" she said in a friendly voice. Hanna grinned at her husband and turned to point at the puppy.

"Is it possible to see the one at the back?"

"Of course!" the woman replied. She pulled out a large hoop of keys from her back pocket and flicked through them until she found the right one, at which she then unlocked the door and quickly slid inside the cage, careful not to let any of the puppies escape. The woman grabbed the gray and white pup and held it up as she stepped back towards the door. "This litter only came in three weeks ago. Along with their mother, they were abandoned on the streets by their owner," she explained as she came back outside of the cage. "We reckon the pup's are around nine weeks old. This one is the youngest, and he's a boy."

"Oh Caleb, look!" Hanna squealed excitedly. She scooped Maddie into her arms, allowing the toddler to get a better look. "How cute is he?!"

"Have you got any pets?" the woman asked as she let Maddie pat the dog.

"We have dog called Bella. She's a Shih Tzu," Caleb replied. "But we've wanted a second dog for a while now."

And two hours later, Hanna, Caleb and Madelyn walked out of the doors, armed with another puppy. Maddie refused to let go of his leash, claiming he was now hers. Both Hanna and Caleb found it amusing how protective she was of the puppy.

"What are we going to name him?" Hanna asked her husband as they walked down the street hand-in-hand. She gently swung her arm back and forth happily. "Not something beginning with b."

"Damn, I was thinking of naming him Bella number two," the brunette said sarcastically, smirking at Hanna.

Hanna groaned and playfully slapped Caleb's arm. "Come on, babe! Be serious. He needs a name."

"He looks like a Buddy," Caleb announced, completely ignoring Hanna's previous comment. "Or a Bear."

The blond was about to moan again when she realized she actually liked the sound of the names...both names. "Ooh, I actually like them."

Caleb's eyes widened eagerly and he grinned, turning towards Hanna as he stopped walking and stood in the middle of the sidewalk. "Can we name him Bear?"

"Bear. Bear. Bear." Hanna continued to repeat the name in various voices, until making a decision. "Bear. Yeah, I like Bear."

"So he's Bear? His name is Bear?"

Hanna nodded, smiling. She began walking again and carefully picked up the puppy, cuddling him in her arms. "Hey little Bear."

 **A/N — im so so sorry this has taken a week. i had actually written out the whole chapter before chapter 14 but i then decided i didnt like it, so rewrote it, and then decided i didn't like that either, so rewrote it again. anyway, this isn't the best version, but i really wanted to post something for you guys!**

 **keep reviewing!**


	16. Chapter 16

Two months later and the day had finally come for the Rivers family to move New York.

"Caleb, be careful with that!" Hanna yelled as Caleb picked up a heavy bedside table. He staggered out of the room and carefully made his way down the staircase, Hanna following behind and watching closely. Downstairs, Toby and Ezra were carrying the kitchen table, backing out of the house slowly. They stepped out of the front door and walked towards the huge truck that was parked out on the street. Caleb was right behind them, with Hanna and Emily now following, both holding a chair each.

"Han," Alison called out from inside the foyer. "Where do you want this?" She was holding up a huge boxed-up television. Hanna contemplated putting the TVs inside the truck, but decided it would be to dangerous. After all, she didn't want to arrive in New York and find all of the TVs had broken during the journey.

"Just put them into the car," Hanna called back. She grabbed the keys to the Land Rover and unlocked it, opening the door as she walked past. Ali shuffled along to the car, clearly weighed down. "Do you want some help?"

"No, I'm good," the blond puffed. Hanna sighed. She'd been wanting to help carry the big things, but no-one would let her. The excuse was that pregnant people shouldn't be carrying anything heavy, but right now, Hanna just wanted to help and get everything packed away. Alison shoved the television into the car and clapped her hands together as if she were getting rid of dust. "All done," she said. Both Ali and Hanna made their way back into the house, ready to get more items.

Caleb, Toby and Ezra all headed back inside, through the house and down the stairs that led to the basement. There, they picked up the big couch that sat in front of the TV. Caleb picked up the right side, Toby the left, and Ezra the middle. Combined with their urge to finish loading up the truck, the men's weight made it a lot easier to pick up a rather heavy couch. The problem wasn't picking it up, the problem was trying to get it up the stairs.

"Dude," Toby laughed. "What are we going to do?"

"This won't fit through the door," Ezra said, as if it weren't already obvious.

"Um, Han?" Caleb called as he poked his head around the door, standing on the top step. He had left Toby and Ezra waiting at the bottom to ask his wife for help. He was using the supposed truth that women knew the answer to everything.

"Yeah?" Hanna replied. She was beginning to make lunch for everyone, but stopped. As Caleb explained, she started laughing. "You didn't think that the couch would be to big to fit through the door?"

"Apparently not. Can you just tell me what to do?"

Hanna paused for a moment as she tried to think of a solution. "I don't know. Maybe you could turn it on it's side? If that doesn't work, you're going to have to see if it can come apart."

The brunette nodded and gave Hanna a quick kiss on the cheek as a thank you. He hopped back down the stairs to find both Toby and Ezra measuring parts of the couch.

"What are you guys doing?" Caleb asked, confused.

Ezra straightened up. "We can turn it on it's side." The guys wasted no time and carefully—with only one knock to the light hanging from the ceiling—managed to turn the couch onto its side. Thankfully it fit through the door, but with only inches to spare.

And at seven o'clock that evening, eleven hours after they started, Hanna and Caleb—along with everyone else—had finally finished packing up their house to move to New York City.

"Maddie?" Hanna called out, gazing around the backyard for the toddler. She spotted Madelyn being chased around the end of the yard by Ted, giggling away happily. The blond grinned and started heading towards them, armed with two drinks: a juice carton for Maddie, and a beer for Ted.

"Hanna!" Ted cheered as she reached them. Hanna handed him the drink, and he gave her a thankful smile and nod in return. "Thanks."

"Here you go, bug." Hanna crouched down and carefully gave Maddie the already-opened carton, praying she wouldn't spill it over her brand-new dress from Ralph Lauren. Hanna cringed when she saw a drip fall from the straw to the ground and barely miss Maddie. "Okay, baby," she hastily intervened, grabbing the juice box. "How about we drink this inside?"

In the kitchen, after Madelyn had finished her drink, Hanna felt a hand touch her shoulder. She spun around on her heels only to find her mom standing there, bags and purses strapped to her arms.

"Is it okay if we take Maddie now?" Ashley inquired. Immediately, Maddie started jumping up and down excitedly. She was delighted when she had been told she was staying at Grandma and Grandpa's that night, and had looking forward to it all day.

"Of course!" Hanna replied. "But before you go, can I take her into the living room for a minute?"

Ashley agreed, and the blond quickly took off with her daughter, heading through to the lounge area. There, Maddie started questioning what they were doing, as only two-year-olds did.

"Maddie," Hanna shushed, bringing her finger to Madelyn's lips. The toddler giggled hysterically and tried to dart away, but was caught and pulled onto her mom's lap. Finding it hilariously funny, Maddie curled over, laughing, and just her face made Hanna smile. "Stop wriggling and stand still, baby!"

"Ganma," Madelyn called, stretching her arms out towards the door.

"No no, we don't need Grandma. I need to tell you something, okay?"

"Okay!" the toddler shrieked.

Hanna took a deep breath and hoped Maddie would behave long enough for her to explain what was going on. It didn't look like it was possible, as she was already distracted by Bear wandering past the door. "Maddie, look at me, honey."

"Bear, Mama. Bear!"

"Yes, it's Bear, I know," Hanna replied, struggling to try and to keep the toddler from running off. "But Bear can wait, okay?"

When it finally looked like Madelyn was going to listen, Hanna began. "Okay, so, you know you're going to Grandma and Grandad's house tonight? And you know that all of our things are in a big, big truck outside?" Maddie nodded, but Hanna knew she had no idea what she meant. It was a long-shot, but Hanna wanted to explain. "Well that's because Mommy and Daddy and you and Bear and Bella are all going to New York tomorrow!"

"New York!"

"Yep, New York! And we're going to live there. So all of our things from this house need to be moved to the new apartment in New York tonight. That's why your staying with Grandpa and Grandma, so Mommy and Daddy can take everything away!"

"New York, New York!" the toddler chanted over and over again. Hanna sighed. It wasn't like a two-year-old was ever going to understand what moving house meant, anyway, so Hanna released Madelyn from her clasp and let her run out of the living room, still chanting, "New York!"

As she slowly arose and followed her daughter back to where everyone was talking, Hanna spotted Maddie being picked up by Ashley. She hurried over, remembering she hadn't said goodbye.

"Hey, bug. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"Bye Mommy," the tiny blond replied. She reached over and let Hanna kiss her on the lips, something she only did if she was in a good mood. Then came Caleb. He had seen Hanna and Madelyn reappear from the living room, and came over to, as well, say goodbye. "Bye Daddy!"

"Bye Mom." Hanna embraced in a long hug with Ashley, and clung to her tight. She couldn't quite get her head around the fact she wouldn't be able to see her mom whenever she wanted. Although it was only a three hour drive to Rosewood from New York, it was nothing like the three minute walk there was right now. "I'm going to miss you so much."

Ashley pulled back, flapping her spare hand—the hand that wasn't gripping a very wriggly Maddie—in front of her face. "Stop. I'm going to start crying," she laughed. "I'm going to miss you so much, baby."

Hanna couldn't help but feel emotional. She was now standing in the empty foyer of the house that had welcomed her engaged, that had welcomed her home as a newlywed, that had welcomed her home as a new mother. The blond rested her head on Caleb's shoulder and let out a sigh, but was interrupted when Aria, Ezra, Toby, Spencer, Emily and Alison all suddenly emerged from the kitchen area.

"We should probably get going," Spencer said, almost in a whisper.

Hanna smiled weakly and stepped forwards. "You guys have been amazing today. Thank you so much for all your help," she said as she wrapped her arms around all four of her best friends.

"Have fun in your new apartment!" Aria exclaimed, pulling away from the other girls.

"We're all going to come and see it soon, right?" Emily winked and nudged Hanna with her hip.

"Of course," Hanna replied, grinning. "But only once it's completely sorted and organized. I'm not letting anyone see it if it's a mess."

The others rolled their eyes, but all smiled. "Just don't work too hard, Han," Spencer said, gesturing to the nonexistent bump. "It's bad for the baby."

Now it was Hanna's turn to roll her eyes. That's all she'd been hearing for the whole day. _Don't carry that, it's heavy!_ or _You can't carry all of those things, you'll hurt the baby!_

"I'm pretty sure Caleb won't let me do anything at all, so you don't have to worry there," Hanna replied. She felt a poke from Caleb behind her, and turned to see him faux-frowning.

"Although, she's right," he said, changing his frown to a realization-smile.

"I'm going to miss you," Spencer said as she hugged the blond one last time. When Hanna pulled away to hug Aria, she grabbed Toby's had and left.

Once everyone else had left, Hanna took a deep breath in and out. She grabbed both of Caleb's hands and stood in front of him, smiling. "This is it," she whispered. "This is the last time we'll ever be inside this house."

Caleb raised his eyebrows and laughed. "It is."

"It doesn't feel real." Hanna gazed around the downstairs of the house and started reminiscing. "Remember when Maddie took her first steps over there?" She nodded to the playroom, a big grin plastered onto her face.

"She fell straight back down," Caleb recalled as he stared inside. It was a space that was once filled with all of his daughter's toys she had ever owned. It was a space that he had spent hours playing dress-up with her.

 _Hanna sat with her legs wide open and her arms stretched out. Her mouth was in an_ o _shape as she nearly burst with excitement. "Babe, she's going to do it!" she squealed to Caleb, who was sitting opposite her. In between them was their eleven month old daughter, who was gripping her dad's hands for dear life._

 _"_ _You want to let go?" Caleb asked Madelyn, poking his head around hers. Madelyn let out a giggle and dropped her hands to her side. Hanna sucked in her breath as she watched the baby put her right foot out in front of her, followed by her left._

 _"_ _Oh my God!" Hanna exclaimed. She clapped her hands together as Maddie edged forwards, tottering on her feet. "Come here, baby!"_

 _"_ _Mama!" Madelyn gurgled as she held out her own arms to be caught by Hanna._

 _"_ _That's right. Come to Mommy," the blond called. Maddie had only taken three more steps when she abruptly stopped and fell onto her butt._

Hanna took her hands from Caleb's grip and rested them on her stomach, looking down at it. She let out a big sigh. "This baby's never going to have that."

"Yes he is," Caleb said quietly, turning around quickly to face his wife. Hanna's face was a face that of someone who was about to cry. Her jaw was trembling, her cheeks were blushing. "He's going to have a playroom that he can take his first steps in, and where he can play with all of his toys. He'll have it all, babe."

Hanna was about to lean in for a hug, when she replayed what her husband had said in her head. "He?"

"We're not having this conversation again." Caleb rolled his eyes. "I was using it hypothetically."

"No, no. I think you're right," Hanna said. She wrapped her arms loosely around the brunette's waist and looked up at him. "I think it's a boy."

Caleb was shellshocked. For the past four months, Hanna had been going on and on about how she thought it was a girl. It wasn't like Hanna to just change her mind randomly. "A boy? Really?"

"Yep." Hanna nodded. "I think it's a boy."

"No you don't. You're lying."

Hanna chuckled to herself and grinned as if she were being cheeky. "I'm not lying, babe. I really do think it's a boy."

Caleb creased his eyes together and stared at his wife's face, trying to see if she was making the face she always made when she was lying. Besides the grin that was plastered to her, there was nothing. "What changed your mind?" he asked slowly, still unconvinced.

The blond shrugged and turned away, heading towards the front door. "I'm not really sure. I just have a feeling."

"Oh yeah? Similar to that feeling you had when you were so adamant it was a girl?" Caleb scoffed as he followed.

"Fine," Hanna waved her hand, "don't believe me." She automatically held out her hand as she walked past the front door to grab the keys to her car, but stopped as she remembered they weren't there. "This is so weird," Hanna murmured as she rooted through her purse and pulled them out. Hanna's house key had already been pulled off and left behind on the kitchen counter, but Caleb had completely forgotten.

"Wait!" he screeched as Hanna stepped outside of the door. The blond turned around, startled. "I need to give the key back."

After waiting for nearly two minutes as Caleb struggled to take the key off of his car keys, Hanna started getting impatient and snatched the keys from him. Within twenty seconds, the house key was off and was being left in the kitchen. Hanna returned to Caleb with a smirk on her face.

"I was about to get it off," muttered Caleb as Hanna sauntered past him. She grabbed his hand and pulled him off of the porch and onto the gravel driveway, where the blond stopped and stared up. It was dark out, but the stars twinkling above illuminated the house.

"Bye bye house," Hanna whispered. "I'll miss you." She turned to her husband, as if she was urging him on to say it too.

Caleb sighed and gave in. "Fine," he groaned. "I'll miss you house." Before Hanna could drone on about how much she was going to miss everything, Caleb grabbed her hand and dragged her over to the jam-packed Land Rover.

"It's so tight in here," the blond moaned as she curled her arms up by her breasts and glanced in the back of the car. Where once Madelyn's carseat had sat, there were now boxes and boxes of household items filling up the space. "Who knew we had so much?"

"I did," Caleb laughed. He shoved the keys into the ignition and started up the engine, the car rumbling into life. As it began slowly rolling down the driveway, Hanna asked, "How is it all going to fit in the apartment?"

"Oh believe me," the brunette replied, "it will fit. That apartment is _gi_ normous."

Almost two and a half hours into the journey, Hanna was resting her head against the cold window and peacefully sleeping. The day had really taken all the energy out of her—well that, and the fact she was a pregnant woman chasing after a toddler for most of the time. As she dozed, Caleb glanced over and smiled. She looked so calm, and it even looked like she had a tiny smile on her face.

 **A/N - im sorry this chapter is so short, but i wanted to leave the rest of it for the next chapter. thank you all for the reviews you've been leaving!**

 **keep reviewing!**


	17. Chapter 17

There was a stir from Hanna and she let out a small groan as she opened her eyes. "Where are we?" she croaked, still hoarse. Hanna rubbed her eyes and looked out of the car window. A sudden burst of excitement sweet through her. "Are we in New York?"

"Yes we are," Caleb replied, grinning. He glanced over at his wife and saw her face light up almost as bright as the buildings they were driving past.

"I can't believe we're here!" Hanna squealed excitedly. She pressed her nose against the cold window and watched the buildings swoosh past. This was her new life. All of it. And it's what she'd been dreaming about for the past four months.

After a few right turns, a few left turns and a few traffic jams, Caleb pulled up into a parking lot. It was located underneath a huge building, one Hanna had only ever seen in movies. It was more than spectacular. There were huge windows on each level, only giving a glimpse at the humungous apartments that were inside.

"W-we live here now?" the blond stuttered. She had picked the apartment, but had no idea it was like…this.

Caleb nodded, chuckling. "Impressive, huh?" He quickly checked the rear view mirror, making sure the truck carrying the furniture had followed. Luckily it had. "Okay, so now we've seen it, can we go to the hotel? I'm shattered."

"Sure, babe." Hanna rested her palm on Caleb's hand, which was resting on the handbrake. The couple had decided earlier on in the day that they would spend the night in a local hotel, and start unpacking in the morning.

They found a Holiday Inn nearby and pulled into a parking space. Both Hanna and Caleb were hoping there would be a spare room this late at night.

Caleb hopped out of the Land Rover and wandered over to where the truck had parked. It was Ezra driving, since he lived in New York anyway, and as Caleb explained what was happening, Ezra nodded.

"Are you going to stay here tonight?" Caleb asked. He was leaning through the window, the edge digging into his chest.

"I think I'll get a cab home," Ezra replied as he opened the truck door and jumped out. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay. Thanks, man." Caleb shook Ezra's hand as a thank you for helping them pack up the house. Ezra gave Hanna—who was still sitting in the car—a smile and waved before wandering off towards the road, where he would later get a cab. "See you tomorrow."

Caleb headed back to the Land Rover and found Hanna on her phone. Her bright pink nail polish was nearly luminous. The blond looked up and gave Caleb a tired smile.

Caleb held out his hand and helped his wife out of the car, grabbing on tight. "Come on, let's go and get a room."

—

"Babe, no. Don't put that there!" Hanna exclaimed as Caleb laid down their bedside cabinet. Caleb sighed, a small groan coming out. Moving house with a pregnant woman was _not_ a fun job; nothing seemed to satisfy Hanna. The bed hadn't been in the middle of the bedroom, the lamp wasn't centered between the couch and the wall—Caleb found it ridiculous.

"Where should it go then?" the brunette asked. He had to use all his might to stay calm.

Hanna shrugged and looked around the room. "I don't know."

"So why can't it go here?"

"It just doesn't look right," Hanna claimed. She pointed to the opposite side of the bed—which was exactly the same as the other—and said, "Just put it there." Caleb rolled his eyes, but did as he was told. Angering Hanna would not help the situation. Once Hanna was happy with the placing of the cabinet, she stood back and admired the newly furnished bedroom. "I love it."

"Thank God," Caleb muttered under his breath. Hanna smiled and wandered out of the room, heading into the living room. It was a complete and utter mess, and Hanna was dreading sorting it out. Caleb followed her through, stretching his arms over his shoulder. He stood to the right of Hanna and stared. "Wow."

Hanna bit her bottom lip and nodded. "Yeah. Wow."

"This is going to take ages."

Lamps, rugs, chairs, TVs, books, movie cases, and random objects—that Hanna was sure she'd never seen before—were scattered everywhere. Hanna puffed out her cheeks and let out a sigh. "Maybe we should have asked Ezra to stay," she said, turning around and looking up at her husband. Ezra had offered to stay and help, but Hanna and Caleb both insisted they could handle it themselves. Well, it didn't look like they could after all.

"No, come on." Caleb clapped his hands together and headed over to the piles and piles and boxes and boxes of things. "We can do this by ourselves." Hanna let out a loud groan; she was tired, she was pregnant, and she was definitely not up to this.

An hour in, Hanna stood back to see what had been done. The couch was now in the correct position, after Hanna and Caleb spending five minutes debating where it should go; the TV had been placed on a table, and that had been put in the right place—again, after much discussion—and the shelves were in the process of being re-built. Unfortunately, they had to be taken down to be able to fit into the truck.

"Can I start putting the books on yet?" Hanna asked for the fifth time. Caleb had refused to let his wife touch anything to do with the shelves—he didn't want her injuring herself or the baby. The only thing she was allowed to do was stack the bottom two shelves with books.

"Not yet," Caleb puffed as he struggled to tighten the screw into place.

Hanna sighed and wandered over to him, holding her hand out. "Let me help."

"No. I don't want you hurting yourself. Anyway, I've got this."

Hanna watched Caleb struggle for another minute and a half, before stepping in again and pushing him out of the way. "I'll do it," she said. And within exactly twenty three seconds, the screw was tightened and in place. "See?" Hanna stood back up and smirked at her husband. Caleb's face has dropped a mile. "You're very welcome, babe."

"Thanks," the brunette mumbled. He sounded like he was in shock. Never had he known Hanna—the all time girly-girl who was obsessed with manicures—to pick up a tool, let alone actually fix something.

"I'm going to make some coffee," Hanna announced as she turned on her heel. Luckily, the kitchen hadn't taken long to sort out. "You want some?" All of a sudden, Hanna stopped in her tracks. "Wait, no. We can't have coffee. There's nothing to make coffee with."

"Why don't you phone your mom and check how Maddie and the dogs are while I finish this?" Caleb suggested as he bent down to pick up a piece of wood. "I won't be long."

"Hey, Mom," Hanna said down the phone. She was sitting in the bedroom, her legs crossed underneath her. Ashley had just picked up, after numerous attempts of calling by Hanna, and sounded out of breath. "What's going on?"

"Your daughter is crazy," Ashley laughed, panting. She took a moment to get her breath back before carrying on. "That child has an endless amount of energy."

Hanna smiled. "She sure does. What have you guys been doing?"

"Well we went to the park, where I thought she would tire herself out, but she didn't. So then we came back and decided to play in the backyard, but that turned into a full-blown came of chase. Maddie's still out there now, chasing Ted," Hanna's mom explained.

"Sounds fun," the blond chuckled. She was definitely glad she didn't have a toddler running around the apartment while she and Caleb sorted everything out. Sending Madelyn to Ted and Ashley's house was a good idea. "Are Bella and Bear okay?"

"They're great! Bear loves Dud," Ashley replied enthusiastically. One worry Hanna had had was that Bear wouldn't adapt to her mom's two pups, Dot and Dudley, and she had expressed her concern multiple times to Ashley, who had just laughed it off. There was a loud giggle from the other end of the line, and Hanna heard her mother whisper, "Do you want to say hi to Mommy?"

"Mommy!" Maddie suddenly squealed. "Hi!"

"Hi, baby! Daddy and I miss you, bug."

There was a moment of silence, before the shuffling of a phone being passed back. "Sorry, she ran off," Ashley's voice announced. "I should probably get back to her. I'll see you tomorrow!"

"Love you, Mom." Hanna hung up and slid her phone into the back pocket of her Hollister denim shorts. She slowly made her way back into the living, her face drooping slightly. But it perked up the second Hanna saw Caleb standing by the finished set of shelves. "You're done!"

"I am," Caleb laughed. The blond hurried over, dodging her way through the remaining boxes. "How is everyone?"

"Maddie seems to be having a good time," Hanna replied sadly, collapsing onto the couch.

Caleb was confused. "Why do you sound so upset? Is the fact our daughter is having a good time with her grandparents while we're busy not a good thing?"

"It is. I just miss her, that's all." The blond cradled her tiny bump and rested her head on a red cushion. She let out a long, quiet sigh, slowly opening and closing her eyes.

"Babe," Caleb whisperer softly, joining his wife on the couch. He began twiddling a strand of her blond locks in his fingers. "We're going to see her tomorrow. Don't get upset about it, okay?"

Hanna lifted her head to find Caleb smiling at her. She couldn't help but crack a smile herself; he was just too cute. "I love you." Carefully, Hanna leant over the cushions and pressed her lips firmly against Caleb's.

"I love you, too," Caleb mumbled as he pulled back for a breath. "But Han," he breathed. "We need to finish unpacking."

Hanna grinned. "That can wait," she said, giving her husband a deeper, more passionate kiss.

"Babe." Caleb pulled back abruptly. "We are not going to have sex until we've unpacked this house!"

"You suck," Hanna groaned. She was clearly sulking, so Caleb placed a small kiss on the side of her forehead before pulling her onto her feet. "I don't want to unpack anymore!" she cried.

"Hanna, it's barely two o'clock. You can't be giving up now."

"Well I am," the blond declared. "So you can either do it yourself or—"

Caleb raised his eyebrows, tutted, and turned around, picking up a box from the living room floor. "You wanted this apartment, you're helping me unpack. Got it?"

Hanna rolled her eyes, but eventually followed her husband. She grabbed a stack of books from the corner of the room and started neatly placing them onto each shelf. Every so often, she would admire the work she had done. Meanwhile, Caleb was moving the two armchairs so they were evenly distributed either side of the couch. He knew how OCD Hanna would get about it if they were even an inch out of place.

And at half past six that evening, after three more arguments, two breakages, and a quick cry from Hanna, the apartment was ready. The bedrooms were perfect, the kitchen was perfect, the living room was perfect and the bathrooms were perfect. Now, all Hanna wanted was to sleep.

"If this is how tired I am at just five months pregnant, I'm really not looking forward to being full-term," she announced suddenly. Caleb looked down at his wife, who was cuddled into his side on the couch. The TV was on, but neither were watching it.

"No wonder you're tired, babe. You have been lugging boxes around all day," Caleb replied, stroking Hanna's hair. She made an "Mhm," sound and nuzzled her head into Caleb's arm.

"I was thinking about that doctor's appointment we have on Friday." Hanna pulled herself up into a reclining position and managed to turn slightly so she was facing Caleb.

"Are we going to not going to finish the other conversation first?"

"No," Hanna said quickly. "But anyway, back to the appointment. I'm, like, 17 weeks now. So doesn't that mean we might be able to find out the gender?"

Caleb shrugged. "I don't know. What did Josie say last time?"

"We don't have Josie anymore." Hanna hadn't been thrilled when she had learned she would be having to find a new OB/GYN, but wasn't prepared for a three hour drive every time she needed an appointment just to stick with Josie. "We have some guy now. His name's…I want to say Peter?"

"Peter? Sounds like a pervert to me," Caleb said, as if it were normal to say something like that.

Hanna slapped his arm and exclaimed, "Caleb!"

"What?" the brunette laughed. He grabbed the beer bottle that was lying on the coffee table and took a long sip. "I'm just saying."

"You can't go around saying those kind of things!" Hanna was trying not to laugh, but the serious

expression on her husband's face was making her crack. "Peter is not a perverted man's name."

"Fine." Caleb held his hand's up in surrender and took another swig of beer. He was reaching over to put the bottle back when a thought popped into his head. "Oh yeah. I found a name for the baby."

"You did?"

Caleb nodded. "Yeah. I can't remember where I saw it now, but I think it's a pretty rad name."

Knowing Caleb, it was going to be something related to sports, beer, or some manly kind of thing. Well at least that's what Hanna thought. She raised her eyebrows and gestured for him to carry on.

"Finn."

Hanna was already to burst out laughing and make comments about how ridiculous the name was, but was surprised when she didn't want to. "Finn?" she repeated. Caleb nodded and smiled. He knew she'd like it. "Finn. I kind of like it. Finn Rivers."

Caleb looked around the room, a smug look on his face. "I'm good at this name stuff."

Hanna scoffed. "Don't flatter yourself, babe. It's one decent name."

"Well do you have any names?"

Of course Hanna had names. What pregnant woman didn't? It was practically all that was on her mind. Day and night. Constantly. There was always a running list of names she had heard about: celebrity children, in magazines, in the coffee shop. But there were way too many to list to Caleb. "I have a couple," she said humbly.

"Would you like to share them with me?"

"Not really," the blond laughed.

Caleb readjusted his position on the couch. "Why not?"

"Because you'll say you hate them all," Hanna said, staring at her freshly painted toenails. She had been wanting to change the color for weeks now, but could never be bothered. Hanna had somehow persuaded Caleb to paint them for her, but not after begging and begging. They were now a pastel blue, a color Hanna had been eyeing up in stores for months.

"Come on, Han. Tell me!"

Hanna sighed. "Fine. But you have to promise not to hate them!"

"I can't promise th—" The death-glare Caleb was being given from Hanna was enough for anyone to give in to anything, even something like murder. It was a look you would not say no to. "Okay, okay. I promise I won't hate them."

"Okay. Well, the first one I heard when I was in the Brew last week with Ali. Some woman was trying to tell her kid off for eating a brownie and—it doesn't matter." Hanna often found herself going into much more detail that she needed to, but always stopped when Caleb started rolling his eyes, which he was currently doing. "Devon."

"Devon? For a girl or boy?"

"Either," Hanna shrugged. She looked up at Caleb, giving him a hopeful side-eye glance. "So. What do you think?"

"I think it's a nice name," Caleb replied, his voice slow.

Hanna squinted at her husband and started shaking her head. "No you don't. You hate it."

"I do not!"

"I've known you for eight years, Caleb. I know when you're lying. You hate the name Devon."

Caleb rolled his eyes again and sighed. He was lying, but he wasn't going to admit it. Hanna would just freak out and get mad because she told him not to hate any of her name suggestions. Sometimes, Caleb hated the fact Hanna was pregnant. She was just too hormonal for him to handle.

"I was also thinking about the name Harper," Hanna said, moving swiftly on from the Devon conversation. "For a girl," she quickly adding, noting Caleb's expression.

"Hey, I like that name!" Caleb sounded utterly surprised. Just as surprised as Hanna when he came out with the name Flynn.

"You do? I was thinking something like Harper Rose Rivers. Or is that too many r's?"

"Babe, hold up." Caleb held up one of his hands, whilst chuckling, like he wanted Hanna to stop. "We don't need to make a decision right now."

Hanna tilted her head to the left so it was just touching the edge of Caleb's sleeve. "I was kind of hoping we could, though," she mumbled.

"Why? We've still got five more months to decide on names," he said, his voice soft and calm. Hanna shrugged and wrapped her arm around Caleb's.

"I don't know. Stability, maybe? Because if we choose a name now, then we know what to call it, we know what to tell Maddie to call it, and we can decorate the nursery."

"Why would a name stop us from decorating the nursery?" Caleb asked. He wasn't aware that the name of the new baby had a real effect on its bedroom.

Hanna looked at Caleb as if he were stupid. "So we can put the name on the wall. Duh?"

"Oh." Clearly Caleb knew nothing about bedrooms for babies, despite having decorated one himself only a year and a half ago. "Are you sure you want to decide now?" he asked Hanna, tapping on her shoulder.

The blond nodded. "A hundred percent."

"Okay then," Caleb breathed. "Let's choose names." He grabbed a piece of paper that happened to be lying on the floor and pulled out a cheap pen he had found from his pocket. "Should we start with boys?"

At quarter past eleven that night, Hanna leaned back against the couch and sighed. She was now sitting on the floor, her legs spread wide apart and a notepad lying in front of her. Filling up three pages were random suggestions for boys names and girls names, middle names and second middle names. She thought she had felt exhausted before, but the feeling was even more defiant now.

"So is that it? Have we decided?" Hanna asked, twisting her head to look back at her husband, who was lying across the couch, his legs hanging over the end. He, too, had pieces of paper filled with names, and was nearly as tired as Hanna.

"I think we have."

"Finley Elliot Rivers," the blond read from the notepad. She grinned. "I love it."

"Or Luna Skye Rivers," Caleb added. He sat up and positioned his legs either side of Hanna, and began stroking her head. "Now all we need is to find out the gender."

Hanna breathed in and puffed out her cheeks. "Yep."

 **A/N - ooh so what do you think of the names?**

 **im sorry this has taken a while. honestly, i haven't had much motivation for some reason. this chapter isn't very good, and i really apologize for that.**

 **im going to try and begin the next chapter as soon as i can, but i can't promise i'll post it soon.**

 **thank you to everyone who continues to leave reviews. i appreciate it so much!**


	18. Chapter 18

It was 5 o'clock in the evening, and three days ago, Hanna and Caleb had moved into their brand-new New York apartment. Although it had taken a full 12 hours, most of the furniture was in the right places—give or take a few chairs—and everyone was adjusting well. Madelyn had squealed when she was brought into her new home with Hanna. Despite the fact Maddie had cried for two hours straight on the journey to New York after leaving her grandparents—she hadn't quite understood Grandma and Grandpa wouldn't be joining her—her face lit up the second Hanna walked into the sweet-smelling apartment. Immediately, the toddler jumped from her mom's arms and flew across the floors, skidding as she went. Hanna watched in amusement. It didn't take long for Maddie to get used to her surroundings, and once she had found her new bedroom, it was like Rosewood had never existed.

While Maddie, and secretly Caleb, were engrossed in the Dora the Explorer episode that was playing on the TV, Hanna couldn't help but stare at her husband. She was doing it a lot now: having sudden moments of realization. This time, it was realizing how hot Caleb actually was. With his chiseled jaw, his scruffy-in-the-perfect-way hair and his dreamy eyes, Hanna was surprised she didn't stare more often.

There were loud pitter-patters against the windows, and Maddie and Caleb simultaneously looked over.

"Rain, Mommy?" Maddie asked, looking to her mom for confirmation. Hanna nodded enthusiastically. Just in the past few months, Madelyn's speech had come on a long way. There were still times Hanna privately worried she would have to take her daughter to speech therapy, but then maddie proved how smart she really was. Caleb was always telling Hanna she worried too much, and Hanna was finally understanding she really did.

"You're such a smart girl, bug!" Caleb tickled Madelyn's belly, an outburst of giggles exploding from the toddler. Once again, Hanna was staring. But this time, it was at the father within Caleb. There was never a time Hanna had doubts about Caleb being a good dad, but there were no words to describe how he acted with his baby girl. It was like Caleb was made to be a dad.

"Right," Hanna suddenly announced, heaving herself up from the couch. As she steadied herself on the ground, she cradled her growing bump. "Who wants food?"

"Me!" Maddie exclaimed, jumping onto her feet. "Yummy food!"

"I can cook," Caleb suggested, also jumping onto his feet. He pulled up his Levi jeans and took a step closer to his wife. In a soothing, calming voice, he said, "You just sit down and relax, babe."

"I want to cook!" the blond groaned. She stomped her foot on the ground and pretended to be in a huff as Caleb smirked and strolled into the kitchen. Luckily, there was Maddie to cheer her up. The toddler believed her mom was genuinely upset and started tugging at her arm, wanting to be picked up. "Hey bug," Hanna strained as she picked up the toddler.

"Mama, smile!" Madelyn gave Hanna a big, cheesy grin—a grin Hanna couldn't help but burst out laughing out at. It showed Madelyn's tiny pearl-white teeth, and she began giggling. "Yay!"

"You're crazy, Mads," Hanna laughed. She bounced Maddie up and down on her hip, but stopped as she started stumbling backwards towards the couch. The previous day, Hanna had weight herself and was shocked to see she had already put on 20 pounds. No wonder she was struggling to carry a toddler too.

Meanwhile, Caleb was was standing in front of the refrigerator, trying to figure out whether Hanna would rather have meatloaf or lasagna. Lately, Caleb was sure she had been craving lasagna, but Hanna seemed to change her mind daily. In the end, he played it safe and went for the lasagna. He carefully pulled out the ingredients, mindful not to knock any of Hanna's precious jars of pickles. That was another craving. Since coming to New York three days ago, Hanna had been stocking up the fridge with dozens of pickle jars.

"Babe?" Hanna called from within the living room. She was now sitting on the couch, clutching her aching back.

"Yeah?"

"Can you bring me a bottle of water please?" And within seconds, Caleb was standing in front of his wife, handing her a glass of ice-cold water.

Hanna smirked. She'd asked for an ordinary bottle, but of course, Caleb would bring her better. "Thanks," she mumbled. She took a long sip and let out a sigh happily when the aching began to dull.

Caleb's face turned to worry. "What's wrong? Are you in pain?"

"Not any more," Hanna replied, smiling up at her husband. She used her arm to nudge Caleb's legs out of her way and placed the glass of water on the wooden coffee table in front of her. "My back was aching, but it's fine now," she explained, noticing Caleb's face still full of worry. "I promise."

"Is that normal? You didn't have back pain with Maddie," Caleb rushed. He was ready to call 911 and get Hanna an ambulance. But by the chuckle Hanna let out, she clearly didn't think an ambulance was necessary.

"It's probably because I'm lugging an extra 20 pounds around. I never gained that much this early on with Maddie," Hanna laughed. Although the weight gain had been a bit of both shock and worry at first, Hanna wasn't too bothered. If it was 10 years ago, however, even putting on an extra, unwanted ounce was the end of the world for her.

"20?" Caleb spluttered. "Why didn't you tell me you weighed yourself?"

Hanna wrinkled her nose. "Um, maybe because it's a personal thing women like to do alone?"

"Fine," Caleb groaned. He wasn't in the mood for an argument with a hormonal, pregnant woman right now. He bent down and kissed Hanna's forehead before retracing his steps back into the kitchen.

There was a loud crackle outside and Hanna dashed to the nearest window, which ended up being the door leading out to the balcony. She cracked the door open slightly and stepped outside just a huge bolt of lightning struck through the sky. The ran was still pouring down, maybe even more so than before.

"Maddie, baby," Hanna called, poking her head around the door. Madelyn was sitting on the floor, playing with her dolls, and looked up. Holding her hands out, Hanna urged Maddie to join her outside. "Come here," she whispered, nodding her head. Being the naïve toddler she was, Maddie jumped up and ran onto the balcony.

"It's wet, Mama," Maddie announced, stretching her arm out to feel the raindrops. She giggled as Hanna gently tugged her arm back. All of a sudden, there was another roar that burst through the sky. Maddie screamed, Hanna jumped of fright. The toddler threw herself into her mother's arms, crying and whimpering.

"Baby," Hanna hushed. She hadn't realized thunder would scare Madelyn so much; she was usually good with loud noises. As she held the little blond in her arms, Hanna started heading back inside the apartment. She had wanted Maddie to watch the lighting strike through the sky again, but that didn't seem a very good idea.

"What's going on?" Caleb asked as his wife and whining daughter sat down on the couch. He had heard all of the commotion and came rushing out. "Why is Maddie crying?"

"I thought she might like the lighting, so I decided to take her out onto the balcony," Hanna said quietly. She held the back of her daughter's neck against her shoulder and rocked her back and forth. "Apparently Madelyn doesn't like thunder."

"Of course she doesn't!" Caleb exclaimed, laughing. "She's two, Han! No two-year-old will like thunder. It's too loud for them."

Hanna rolled her eyes, but continued to gently rock her daughter. Eventually, Maddie's cries ceased and she managed to calm herself down, but not after a warm cup of milk and a hug from her daddy.

Dinner ended up being an hour late, thanks to the thunder and lighting fiasco. Hanna had now made a mental note not to take Madelyn outside if it's stormy weather—although it bummed her out slightly.

Just as Hanna was about to dig into the meal that was sitting on a steaming plate in front of her—a meal that was making her stomach rumble just by the smell—her phone began to buzz. Hanna tried to ignore it, thinking the caller would just give up and call back later, but the phone continued to buzz and vibrate against the hard, marbled kitchen table.

Caleb was sitting opposite her, and urged her to pick it up. "Go on. Answer it. It's okay."

The blond smiled and scraped back her chair, grabbed the iPhone and wandered into the living room. "Hello?" she called.

"Hanna, hello," a familiar voice replied. "It's Marlee."

Hanna nodded to herself. Marlee was her new soon-to-be boss when she started her new job in three days time. "Hey. Sorry I couldn't answer before, I was busy."

"No, it's fine. I'm sorry for calling so late in the day," Marlee said, laughing. The laughing abruptly stopped, and Marlee's voice turned serious. "Hanna," she mumbled quietly. "There's been some bad news."

"There has?"

Hanna heard Marlee take a deep breath in down the phone. "We've had to cancel the movie."

"What?!" Hanna exploded. There was no way they would cancel the movie. Hanna was convinced this was some kind of unfunny, practical joke the crew played on new-comers.

"I won't bore you with the details. But basically, we don't have enough money to finish it, so there's no point even starting. It'd be a waste of everyone's time," Marlee explained briefly. Anyone could have heard the sadness it her voice; this was no joke.

"So it's canceled? Just like that?"

"I'm so, so sorry, Hanna." As she sat in her trailer, Marlee wiped her nose with a tissue she found on the side. No one was more devastated about the movie than she was. Marlee had been confident it was going to be a huge hit, and had been so excited. "None of us saw this coming," she continued. "I'm so sorry you've had to lose your job over this."

Hanna was shocked. No, shocked was an understatement. "I—I…" she trailed off, not knowing what to reply. What was someone supposed to do when they found out they would no longer be having the job they had been dreaming about for the past three months? Hanna was stumped.

"I can look around and show people the work you sent me," Marlee suggested, her voice perking up ever so slightly. "It's amazing, so I'm sure you'd be hired in an instant."

"No, it's okay," Hanna humbly replied. She rested one leg on the arm of the couch and sat on it, rubbing her fingers in circles on her belly. "You've probably got enough on your plate without the added stress of finding me another job."

"Once again, I'm sorry, Hanna."

Just moments later, Hanna was droopily shuffling back into the kitchen. Caleb was busy feeding Maddie spoonfuls of lasagna, which she was galloping down every minute, but stopped when Hanna entered. The rain was still splattering hard against the windows, raindrops racing to the windowsill.

"Who was it?" he asked as Hanna slumped onto a chair. The hard back of the chair was digging into her spine and she moved around uncomfortably, sighing and tutting.

"Marlee," she puffed, grabbing a nearby cushion and shoving it behind her. "There's not going to be a movie."

"You're kidding," Caleb gasped. Hanna shook her head as she played around with the food sat in front of her. Her face was long, her eyes watering. The job had felt like a dream: it payed well, it was in her favorite city in the world. Hanna had been ecstatic. "What the hell happened?"

"There wasn't enough money or something." Hanna shrugged as if she didn't care about the details, which she didn't. It was selfish, but all Hanna cared about was her job in the matter. She looked up, her eyes full of desperation. "Caleb, what am I going to do?" she cried.

Caleb jumped from his seat and hurried over to the blond, dropping Maddie's spoon as he went. "Hey, hey, hey," he said softly, wrapping his muscular arms around Hanna. "It's okay, babe. There'll be other jobs."

"But what if there's not?" Hanna exclaimed, saliva spitting out of her mouth. There were now mascara-stained tears rolling down her cheeks, more falling every time she blinked. "What if there's never another job like that? That was one of a kind, Caleb. One of a kind!"

Hanna seemed utterly distraught and Caleb didn't know what to do. He knew he should comfort her, but it seemed Hanna was trying to wriggle out of the hug Caleb was attempting to give her. The rain seemed endless, and it was just adding to the depressive mood Hanna was in. Even Maddie was now upset. She was getting no attention from anybody, and she was not enjoying it. The toddler let out a loud faux-cry as Caleb kissed his wife's forehead.

"Maddie, shush," Caleb hissed. He knew all of the tricks in the book: Maddie liked to cry when she wanted attention, she liked to hit when she wanted someone to play with her, and she liked to tug on legs when she wanted to be picked up. "Eat the bread," Caleb said, pointing to the crusty pice of garlic bread that was sitting in front of her. Maddie frowned, looked at the bread, and then stuffed it in her mouth.

"I'm being stupid," Hanna sighed. She sniffed and wiped her nose dry, then wiped her chin as she felt a tear drop onto her neck. She was wearing a halter dress, but her shoulders were bare. "It was just a job."

"You're not being stupid, babe," Caleb promised. He laid a gentle finger on Hanna's chin and carefully moved it around to meet his. With their faces just inches apart, Caleb whispered, "It'll be okay," before slowly pressing his lips against Hanna's.

The mood had improved—partly because of the rain easing off and partly because Hanna had stopped crying—and Hanna and Caleb were now quietly sitting side by side in bed. Caleb was reading a men's magazine Hanna had forced upon him, while Hanna flicked through this month's _Elle._ The bedroom was almost silent, just the faint tick, tick, tick of the clock hanging above the bed.

"You're job starts on Monday," Hanna suddenly announced. Caleb was fully aware of this fact, but politely nodded in reply. Hanna dropped her magazine onto her stomach and turned her head towards her husband. "Are you nervous?"

Caleb sighed to himself: this wasn't the right time to have a job conversation with Hanna when Hanna had just lost her own job. But the blond stared at him until he answered. "Not really," he murmured. And it was true. Caleb wasn't a man to get nervous at things like new jobs; he just got on and did it. The last time Caleb could recall being nervous was when Hanna told him her water had broken.

 _It was a warm September's morning, and Hanna intertwined her fingers with Caleb's as they wandered down the dusty park's trail. Hanna wobbled as a pain ripped through her huge, swollen belly, and she had to stop to steady herself. Luckily, Caleb was there to grab onto her arm._

 _"_ _You okay?" he asked, raising his left eyebrow. Hanna nodded. She was sure these were just those stupid, fake Braxton Hicks contractions. She'd had them nearly everyday since hitting the seventh month milestone. As Hanna tugged on Caleb's hand to keep moving—she had read in one her her thousands of baby books that walking was a good way to induce labor—Caleb looked at his wife, worried. She'd been acting odd all morning, and kept having to stop to take a breath. Hanna had assured him it was just because she was carrying extra weight and found it hard to waddle around, but Caleb wasn't convinced._

 _"_ _Come_ on. _" Hanna looked at her husband as if to ask,_ are you coming or not? _It didn't look like he was. Hanna and Caleb's recently-bought, twelve-week-old puppy, Bella, ran circles around Caleb's legs as she gave a not-so-subtle indication she wanted to carry on, just like Hanna did._

 _"_ _Are you sure you're okay?" Caleb asked, hopping from one foot to the other._

 _Hanna rolled her eyes, but a small smirk turned up the corners of her mouth. She had adored how caring and worrisome Caleb had been throughout this pregnancy. "I'm fine! Now let's go!"_

 _Reluctantly, Caleb started moving. Bella let out a small yap of delight and ran off, only stopping when the leash started to restrict her. Hanna clasped the brunette's hand again, and started gently swinging to back and the forth. The birds in the trees above chirped away happily, enjoying the warm, Pennsylvanian sun that was beating down._

 _The summer had been a struggle for Hanna. It had been hot, even more hot than usual. The sun seemed to arise, without a doubt, bright and early each day, and the temperatures rose throughout the morning. By lunchtime, it would reach it's peak…but stay there. Hanna had ended up starting a summer routine: she would wake up when Caleb would be getting ready for work, eat breakfast that normally consisted of left-over sweet potato fries—much to Caleb's disgust—and then lounge around the pool all day until Caleb came home. The baby didn't like the sun half as much as Hanna did, and would constantly be moving around and making Hanna's back ache._

 _Taking a gentle stroll through the park was relaxing, and was helping the non-stop backache Hanna had been experiencing for hours now to finally ebb away. Every so often, Caleb would glance over at his wife, making sure she was okay. Sure enough, there was always a small smile on Hanna's face every time he looked._

 _After three more unusually painful Braxton Hicks contractions in the park, Hanna decided it was time to ask Caleb to start walking home. Caleb immediately agreed, and even offered to buy cupcakes from Leon's Cupcakes._

 _As Caleb stood at the counter, opposite a petite red-haired waitress, Hanna felt another sharp twinge. This one, though, was more painful and she grabbed onto the nearby wooden beam. Whilst breathing in slowly and deeply, Hanna counted in her head how long it was lasting. She counted 24 Mississippi's, which was more than the previous ones added the pain subsided, Hanna realized these weren't practise contractions; they were the real thing._

 _"_ _I got you your favorite," Caleb announced as he strides over to his wife. There was a big smile plastered to his face, and he had his strong arm stretched out, holding a pink box. Hanna gave a small, weak laugh and gently retrieved the cupcake from Caleb's hand._

 _"_ _Thank you, babe," she mumbled, slowly opening up the box. There, sitting in the middle, was indeed Hanna's favorite flavor of cupcake. Hanna leaned forwards and pecked him on the lips, pulling away with a smile on her face. The couple wandered out of the small, cute shop in the center of Rosewood, and were hit by the warm air. Hanna was already uncomfortable enough and needed to get home…now._

 _Luckily the walk home from the cupcake store was a short one, and Hanna experienced no more contractions during that time. She burst through the door and let out a long, happy sigh when she felt the air conditioning breezing through the house._ Thank God for the AC, _Hanna thought to herself._

 _The blond began waddling over to the kitchen, ready to gulp down a ice-cold bottle of water. As she passed the door to the living room, Hanna felt something trickle down the inside of her thigh. She stopped in her tracks, her eyes widening with realization._

 _"_ _B-babe!" she called out nervously, her hands beginning to tremble. Caleb came running, his socks sliding across the laminated floors. Hanna glanced down at the floor, where the beginning of a puddle was forming._

 _Caleb's jaw dropped. "W-what's that?"_

 _Had those lamaze classes taught him nothing? "My water's broken!" Hanna exclaimed._

 _This was it. The baby was coming. And all Caleb did was stand there. Everything seemed to stop as he stared at his wife's terrified face._

But Caleb had decided that was a reasonable excuse to be nervous. He had just found out his baby was coming, that was a pretty big deal, right? Hanna was just as nervous, maybe even more so. But then again, Caleb could understand; he wasn't about to push a baby out of his vagina, whereas Hanna was.

As Hanna wrested her head against her husband's arm, she sighed. "This sucks."

"What? The job?"

She nodded, running her tongue over her pearly-white teeth in anger. "I can't believe I have no job now. What are we going to do? We can't afford this apartment without me having a decent job!"

Caleb was eager to change the topic of conversation. It was clear Hanna was too stressed, and that was bad for the baby. "Do you know what else is coming up soon?" he asked randomly. Hanna lifted up her head and looked at his like he was crazy. It was quite random, considering she was in the middle of an angry outburst.

"Did you hear anything I just said?" she spat rudely.

"Yes," Caleb said hastily. "But it's our anniversary in three weeks."

Hanna dropped her head, hitting Caleb's arm with quite a heavy force. "I know."

"So…what did you want me to get you?" he asked, twirling a strand of hair around his finger. Hanna shrugged, staying silent. "Roses? Chocolates?"

"Whatever," Hanna mumbled sleepily. Her eyes were drooping, and she was blinking slowly. Caleb gently caressed her arm, knowing she was about to fall sleep. He quietened his breathing and, as carefully as he could, reached over to switch off the bedside lamp. Hanna stayed leaning against her husband, finding his scent calming and relaxing. Before she knew it, Hanna was in a deep sleep.

 **A/N — I hope you like the flashback, although it wasn't very good. I seriously need some sort of writing tips.**

 **anyway, let me know what you thought of the chapter by leaving a review! and maybe even give me your vote on the gender of Rivers baby 2?**

 **I'm sorry if some of Hanna's job loss isn't accurate or correct, but i don't work in the movie industry, so i had no idea how to write. i hope it's okay, though.**


	19. Chapter 19

It was eight o'clock on a Monday morning, and Hanna was sitting at the kitchen table. Opposite, was Madelyn, who was deeply engrossed in a princess coloring book she had found stacked on the shelves, amongst what seemed to be every other book Caleb and Hanna had ever owned. The second Madelyn had spotted it, she had begged Hanna to take it out.

Now, half an hour later, Hanna was bored. She had already colored in her own sheet that Maddie had very kindly given to her, and was patiently—kind of—waiting for her daughter to move on from coloring to something else. It usually didn't take Madelyn long to become bored.

"Hey," Hanna said suddenly, jumping from her chair. She leaned over the table and patted Madelyn's arm. "Do you want some waffles?"

Maddie looked up, just for a brief second, and nodded eagerly, grinning. "Yum," she giggled, patting her stomach. Hanna grinned as Maddie turned back to her coloring book, turned away and began unloading the ingredients from separate cupboards. She had just grabbed the milk from the refrigerator when Caleb wandered out, adjusting the black tie that was strung around his neck. Hanna stopped, admiring how smart he looked.

"Wow," she admired. Caleb hurried over and kissed her forehead before grabbing an apple from the ancient, supposedly-blessed fruit bowl—Hanna had found it whilst on a trip around Asia the summer after college, and had never let it go.

"Do I look okay?" Caleb asked, checking the three-piece suit he was wearing. Hanna noticed a small crease on his shoulder and was quick to lunge forward and brush it out. She stood back and stared it up and down.

As Hanna began shaking her head in disapproval, she murmured, "No. You don't want that," and undid the buttons of the waistcoat. She gestured for Caleb to take it off, which, with a confused expression, he did.

"Did it not look good?" Caleb asked as he gently laid the waistcoat on the back of a kitchen chair.

Hanna laughed and shook her head again, the two small french-braids she had done earlier than morning hitting the back of her scalp. "You looked like you were going to a wedding," Hanna chuckled. Standing on her tiptoes, Hanna stretched up and kissed her husband passionately on the lips. "Good luck on your first day of work, babe," she mumbled, her face just inches away from Caleb's. The words came out almost seductively, and Caleb found it hard not to pull down the strap of Hanna's thin shirt.

"I need to go," he whispered, reluctantly stepping backwards. Before Caleb could reach it, Hanna grabbed his briefcase from the marbled counter. Caleb smirked, rolling his eyes at Hanna, who began dancing around the living room with it. She nearly stepped on Bear, who was peacefully dozing in the middle of the floor, and woke him up.

"Sorry, Bear," she whispered, as if it were going to send the puppy straight back to sleep. When all Bear did was growl back at her, she cringed and headed for the front door, still armed with the briefcase. After grabbing an ice-cold bottle of water from the refrigerator, Caleb quickly followed.

"Have fun," Hanna said, grinning whilst she stood leaning against the black door. Caleb had dodged past her and was now standing out in the hallway, opposite an identical look exterior of an apartment to his own. All of the apartments in the huge building seemed to look the same from the outside. Both Hanna and Caleb had observed this when they decided one day, they would climb up the stairs instead of taking the easy route of the elevator.

"I will," Caleb replied, kissing Hanna lightly. Hanna handed over the briefcase that she had been hugging against her stomach, faux-frowning.

"We're all going to miss you," she cried. "Me, Maddie, Bear, Bella and Baby."

Caleb sighed, but the corners of his mouth turned up. "I'll miss you all too. But I promise it'll go by so quickly."

Hanna breathed in deeply and nodded. Today, just like Caleb, Hanna was due to start her new job. Except, two days ago, she had gotten a phone call from her boss, explaining the movie she was set to work on had been canceled. Hanna had taken the news pretty hard, and had even needed a small cry late that night. Thankfully, though, during the past 24 hours, Hanna had managed to cheer herself up and wasn't so bummed out.

"I love you, babe," Caleb said, taking a step backwards.

Hanna bit her bottom lip and smiled. "I love you, too."

Slowly, Caleb made his way down the hallway, in the direction of the elevator. He, too, had been bummed when Hanna lost her job. But luckily, it wasn't all bad. Now, Hanna was able to spend all of her days entirely with Madelyn, something she had wanted since going back to work over a year ago.

Hanna was making her way back into the kitchen, a smile still lingering on her face. She was sure her cheeks were blushing red—after all, Caleb always seemed to have that effect on her. Just him saying _I love you_ was enough to send butterflies to her stomach.

"Mommy," Maddie's voice called out. Hanna poked her head around the doorframe. There, Madelyn was sitting up, proudly holding her finished artwork. It was a multicolored picture of Rapunzel, although it was no longer clear it was Rapunzel.

"That's so good, baby!" Hanna exclaimed, walking towards her daughter.

"For oo," Maddie said, holding the coloring book out in her small, chubby hands. As Hanna reached the kitchen table, she took the book and started slowly, carefully, ripping the page out, but stopped when Maddie let out a whimper.

"It's okay. I'm just going to take the picture out of the book," Hanna explained. She moved the book closer to Maddie, making sure the toddler could watch. "See?"

Before Hanna could rip any more of the page, the table started vibrating. Hanna furrowed her eyebrows, confused, until she saw her iPhone lit up, laying at the other end of the table. The blond reached across and grabbed it, reading the name Aria Fitz on the screen.

"Aria," Hanna said as she answered. "Hey."

"Hey!" Aria replied excitedly. There were loud shouts from the other end of the phone line, shouts that sounding a lot like a frustrated toddler. Aria moved her cell from her ear and hissed, "Chloe, put that back. Now."

"Problems with Chloe?" Hanna laughed.

Aria let out a long, tired sigh. "You don't want to know." Hanna chuckled and glanced at her own daughter, who was trying to rip her own piece of paper. "Anyway, I was calling to see if you were busy today."

"I don't think I have anything planned," Hanna said, although sounding very unsure. The calendar was hanging on the wall, and she shot a quick look at it, nodding. "Nope, I have no social life."

"Good," Aria replied hastily. "Do you want to meet up for a coffee? I haven't seen you in days."

Two hours later and Hanna and Madelyn were standing in front of the toddler's closet, staring at dozens of outfits. Of course, being a toddler, Madelyn was picking out all of her pink, fluffy tutus that were supposed to be hidden at the back of the closet, and Hanna was repeatedly having to tell her no.

"You're not wearing a tutu out to see Aria, Madelyn," Hanna declared as she threw the last tutu back into the closet. "But, you can wear this instead?" She held up denim pinafore dress, a dress Hanna had been eyeing up for months before buying the previous week, as well as a mustard color t-shirt to go underneath. Caleb was always telling Hanna to stop splurging out on clothes for Maddie—she had enough, he would tell her. But Hanna believed no child ever had enough clothes.

"Okay!" Maddie squeaked excitedly. She lifted her arms up, ready for Hanna to take her pajama shirt off.

"Right," Hanna sighed, standing in front of Madelyn, who was now dressed and jumping on her bed. The blonde wandered toward the closet, crouched down and started rooting through the hundreds of pairs of shoes. They ranged from baby booties to shoes that won't fit Maddie until she's six. Hanna may have gone a little overboard when she first found out she was having a daughter. "What shoes should we put on you?"

"Pink!" Maddie exclaimed. She jumped off the bed a little too clumsily and fell onto her knees. But, like a true soldier, she got right back onto her feet and ran over to her mom. "Pink," she repeated as she reached Hanna by the closet.

Hanna chuckled, shaking her head. "No, no pink, Mads. You have pink on your romper, and that's enough." She scratched her head, staring at a line of three pairs of shoes she had just organized. There was a pair of white, leather fisherman sandals, a pair of blue Birkenstocks that Alison had bought Madelyn for her first birthday, and a pair of beige cross-strap leather sandals. All were perfect for the warm, summer weather, but Hanna couldn't decide which she preferred with Maddie's denim dress.

10 minutes later and it was between the beige sandals or the fisherman sandals. Madelyn was being no help whatsoever, and was hyperactively jumping around the bedroom, acting as if she had just been fed spoonfuls of sugar. Hanna sat cross-legged on the floor, her small-but-growing bump visible. The window was wide open, letting in a cool breeze. There was the sound of paws padding down the hardwood hallway, and Bear appeared at the doorway of Madelyn's bedroom.

"What's up, Bear?" Hanna asked, tapping on the floor for him to come over. The pup obeyed, and obediently sat down in front of Hanna. Caleb had spent every day with Bear since adopting him, training and teaching him to be obedient. "You're such a good boy," Hanna cooed, nudging Bear stomach. He dropped to the floor, his tongue hanging out as he panted. Hanna rubbed at his belly, something she had learned he adored. There was a loud sound from outside—which seemed to happen a lot in New York—that startled Bear, and he suddenly jumped up and hared out of the bedroom.

"Bye, Bear," Hanna laughed. She turned back to the shoes and picked up the white fisherman sandals, deciding she liked them best with Madelyn's outfit. "Mads, come here, baby."

"No," Madelyn retorted. She giggled hysterically whilst throwing her weight around her bed.

"Maddie, come and put your shoes on," Hanna demanded firmly. "We're meeting Aunty Aria soon, so you need to put your shoes on so I can get ready. Okay?"

The toddler let out a groan and slid off of the side of the bed, her dress rolling up. As she trudged over to her mom, Hanna fiddled with the hem of the dress, adjusting it so it was straightened out. Hanna then proceeded to slip the shoes on, admire the outfit and make sure it was perfect, then sent Maddie into her bedroom, where she later followed.

It only took Hanna a surprising 33 minutes to get changed. If Caleb was there, he would have called it a miracle, and Hanna wouldn't have heard the end of it. After spending over five minutes searching for the right purse to match her outfit, Hanna grabbed her phone, keys, wallet and two drinks, took a firm hold of Maddie's hand and headed out of the front door.

Aria had asked to meet in a coffee shop that was perfectly located in between her apartment and Hanna's apartment. It was like it was built for them. The coffee shop was petite, and had a rustic feel to it when you walked in the doors. Hanna was hit by an almost overpowering smell of coffee when she walked in, but it was drowned out by the smell of fresh muffins being baked. It much reminded Hanna of Rosewood's local coffee shop, the Brew.

"Han!" a familiar voice called out. Hanna glanced around and spotted a small brunette waving wildly as she sat by the window. Next to her was a toddler around Maddie's age, and on her lap was a baby boy.

Hanna scooted Maddie across the floors, grinning widely. Aria stood up, despite having a 9 month old in her arms, and wrapped her arms around Hanna's neck as they reached each other. Madelyn and Chloe immediately threw themselves into each other's arms, like it had been years since they'd seen each other, when it actual fact it had only been a couple of weeks.

"Caden!" Hanna cooed, carefully scooping the baby from Aria's arms into her own. Smiling and cooing at him, she tickled under Caden's chin. "My baby boy, I've missed you."

Aria greeted Maddie, although she definitely didn't have the toddler's attention. That was given all to Chloe, who was now pulling out her new Barbie dolls from Aria's purse. Hanna perched herself on an oversized armchair, positing Caden comfortably on her lap.

"So," Aria began, "how are you liking the Big Apple?"

Hanna puffed out her cheeks. Four days spent living here wasn't exactly enough to come up with a secure answer, so Hanna just shrugged.

"How's your pregnancy so far?" Aria asked before taking a sip of the soy latte she had ordered just minutes before Hanna had turned up.

"It's been…different," Hanna replied slowly. "I don't know if it's because I've been so stressed lately or because it's my second pregnancy or…I don't know, but I feel like I keep forgetting I'm pregnant. That never happened with Maddie."

Aria smiled reassuringly and tapped her hand twice against Hanna's knee. "Don't worry. I was exactly the same with Caden. But by the time I reached five months and it was clear I was pregnant and not just fat, it became more real."

Just as Hanna opened her mouth to reply, a small, ginger and freckly waitress interrupted. "Can I get you anything?" she asked, her voice high and girly. There was warming smile stretching over her face, and she had a tray resting on her hip.

"Could I get another soy latte?" Aria smiled sweetly. The waitress nodded, mentally noting the order in her head.

"Can I get an iced tea please?" Hanna asked. She was desperate for a coffee, but due to obvious reason—the reason that stuck out of her stomach—she had to throw that order out of the window. Hanna glanced at Madelyn, who was infatuated with Chloe's Barbies. "Oh," she quickly added, "and a glass of water."

"Sure," the waitress squeaked, hurrying back to the counter.

The sun was beaming through the large windows, warming up the friendly coffee shop. Hanna repositioned herself in the massive chair, mindful over Caden on her lap. The baby whimpered, but leant his head against Hanna's small baby bump. There was a buzz from within the Michael Kors bag that was sitting against the leg of the chair. Aria kindly reached over and passed it to Hanna.

"It's Caleb," Hanna said slowly as she read the name on the screen. She swiped across. "Hey, babe. What's going on?"

"I wanted to check how you were," Caleb replied. There were shouts from the other end of the phone and Hanna could just imagine the commotion that was happening behind Caleb.

"We're good. We're out with Aria, Chlo and Caden." Hanna stroked the small amounts of hair on top of Caden's head. "How's your first day?"

Caleb had been at his new job for approximately four and a half hours and so far, he was loving it. It was just like he had dreamt about. Kenneth, his new boss, was even nicer than he was in the interview; Caleb's colleagues were so welcoming, explaining everything for him when he got confused. Caleb couldn't believe he waited so long to find a job this perfect.

Hanna smiled as her husband excitedly explained what had been happening. But, although she was happy for him, there was a twinge of jealousy. Hanna wanted to be starting a new job. Hanna wanted to have that excited feeling of meeting her new boss, new colleagues.

"Okay, well I need to go," Caleb announced. Hanna said a quick goodbye. Caden was beginning to fidget on her lap, and Aria was trying to grab him before he toppled over.

Aria moved her son into a cradling position, grabbed a bottle full of milk from her purse and started feeding Caden. "Is Caleb okay?" she asked.

"He sounds like everything's amazing," Hanna replied. Her voice was droopy, maybe a little sad.

After being best friends with Hanna since sixth grade, it wasn't hard for Aria to work out that something was bothering Hanna. And it didn't take long for Aria to work out what it was. "Han," she murmured. "You'll find another job."

"I don't know," the blonde mumbled. Maddie scampered over to her mom and began tugging on Hanna's leg. Hanna looked down, startled. "What's wrong?"

"Drink, Momma," Maddie begged. Nodding, Hanna stretched her arm out and grabbed the small glass of water that had been brought to the table by the waitress. The ice tea was sitting next to it, and Hanna nearly knocked it over with her clumsy hands.

"Careful!" Aria exclaimed, watching the plastic cup waver. Hanna stopped, grabbed the cup and moved it, before handing her daughter the glass of water. It had a stripy multicolored straw, and Maddie grinned when she saw it. Feeling somewhat exhausted, Hanna sighed and leant back against the chair. She couldn't believe how tired she felt; she hadn't even done anything!

"This baby," Hanna said, "is so tiring. I feel like I could fall asleep anywhere constantly."

Aria chuckled. "Have you got any names picked out yet or are you just going to call it baby for it's whole life?"

"We're calling it baby," Hanna replied. Her face was solemn, as if she were serious. "No, I'm just kidding," she quickly adding, laughing. "We picked two names out the other day, actually."

"You did?!"

"Yep," Hanna nodded. "One for a girl, one for a boy."

"Tell me, tell me!" Aria chanted, her voice high and squeaky.

Hanna kept tight-lipped and shook her head. There was a small smirk on her face, the corners of her mouth turning up.

"Oh, come on," the brunette sighed. "Han, just tell me the names. Please?"

"Fine."

Aria bubbled with excitement. "Really?"

"No," Hanna laughed. Aria scowled at the blonde.

—

It had been a tiring day for Hanna and Madelyn. Well, for Hanna at least. After a long stay in the cute coffee shop, Aria insisted on taking Hanna and Madelyn to Central Park. Hanna was reluctant. She wasn't feeling well enough to go wandering around a busy park; she was just too tired. But being the persistent person she is, Aria wouldn't let the idea go. Eventually, Hanna had to agree, and spent the next five hours watching Maddie and Chloe chase each other around a huge lake. Whilst standing in the warm, summer sun, Hanna suddenly regretted not bringing Bear and Bella out with her. They were cooped up at home, probably whining and whimpering as they sat at the front door, awaiting Hanna or Caleb's return. Unlike everyone else, Bear and Bella hadn't take too well to the new apartment. They missed being able to run around the backyard, being able to watch the birds go swooping over them.

Now, at almost seven o'clock, Hanna was curled up on the couch, wandering if Caleb was ever going to come home from work. Madelyn was snuggled into her mom, dreaming away in a deep, deep sleep. Bear was sitting on Hanna's feet, his head drooped over the edge of the couch, and Bella was lying by the coffee table. The TV was switched on, and Hanna's all-time favorite show, _Friends_ , was playing, but instead of watching it, she was staring down at her baby girl, wandering whether, in 5 months, she'd have another baby girl to play with. Was it going to be a Luna or a Finley? She was desperate to know.

The front door suddenly burst open, startling both dogs. Luckily, Madelyn stayed fast asleep. In fact, she didn't even stir when Caleb came bounding into the living room.

"I'm sorry I'm so late," he announced a little too loudly. Hanna brought her finger to her lips and whispered, "Shh," as she pointed to the sleeping toddler.

"Oh sorry," Caleb cringed. He slowly and quietly slid off his patent leather shoes, dropped his bag down on the floor, and tip-toed towards the couch. He stared at the small space that was left between Hanna's feet and the arm of the couch, debating whether to sit there. Caleb decided against it, and was about to shuffle across the armchair when Hanna lifted her head. She gestured for Caleb to sit where her head had been.

"So, how was the rest of your day?" Hanna asked quietly as she gently laid her back onto Caleb's lap. Caleb twirled a piece of hair that had been hanging by Hanna's ear around his finger.

"It was amazing," Caleb whispered back. "This job is perfect."

"I'm so happy for you." Hanna smiled up at her husband, only to find him already grinning at her.

 **A/N - so caleb's started his new job, but hanna doesn't have one anymore :( but yay she can see aria a lot! would you guys mind if aria was in the story more?**

 **thank you to everyone who's left reviews!**

 **and thank you Jaz L for that tip! hopefully ill actually remember to do it!**

 **oh, and don't forget to leave me your suggestions on the gender of Rivers Baby 2!**


	20. Chapter 20

It was raining. And not the light, drizzly kind of rain. But the hard, soak-you-three-seconds, run-for-shelter kind of rain. Anyone with a hint of common sense would stay in, or at least use a car if they needed to get anywhere. But not Hanna and Caleb. They were on their way to a doctor's appointment, a pretty important one, too, and were walking. Well, they weren't really walking. It was more like a sprint. The rain was battering against the cars parked on the street, and Hanna was trying her hardest to weave in and out of people with umbrellas to keep herself and Madelyn dry. Approximately five minutes before the family had to leave, the trusty Land Rover had decided to break down. It had completely died. To make matters worse, Hanna's car was currently being fixed after she popped a tire on her way to visit her mom back in Rosewood. So, Hanna, Caleb and Madelyn had no way of transport other than foot.

"I hate the rain," Hanna growled to Caleb as she ducked under the canopy of a bakery. Despite the weather, there were still a few New Yorkers bustling along the sidewalk, but many looked like they were trying to get to their office building, not the doctors office that was three miles away.

"Just stay under shelter and you'll be fine," Caleb replied, swinging Maddie into his arms. Maybe they'd be able to move a little faster if they didn't have a dawdling two year old going at a snails pace.

"I can't stay under the shelter if there's no freaking shelter to stay under!" Hanna exclaimed, turning her head around to glance at Caleb. Her face was turning fifty shades of red, as if she were angrier than the time she found out her mom had accidentally canceled her _Vogue_ subscription. As if the day wasn't bad already, it seemed Hanna had received a fresh load of pregnancy hormones this morning.

"Calm down, Hanna," Caleb sighed. "We'll be there in, like, ten minutes."

Hanna rolled her eyes. Ten minutes? In ten minutes, Hanna could be splashed with dirty rain water by a cab at least three times; she could fall in a puddle; she could ruin her shoes even more than they already were. A lot could happen in ten minutes.

As the blonde passed a high-end fashion store, she stopped. There was an odd sensation in her stomach, specifically the baby bump.

Caleb had to suddenly grind to a halt and nearly bumped into his wife. "Whoa, Han. Don't just randomly stop in the middle of the sidewalk. Keep moving!" Hanna didn't move. She kept her hands on her belly, her jaw hanging open. Caleb shuffled around her. "What's wrong?"

"The baby," she mumbled. "I felt the baby move."

"You what?" Caleb spluttered. Everything seemed to stop; the rain that was turning into a torrential downpour; the cab drivers with harsh New York accents that were cursing as they poked their heads out of the car's window; the bustling people rushing to and from work. Caleb stared at his wife, who was cupping her hands around the bottom of her belly. Slowly, a smile started to spread across Hanna's face. That smile turned into a grin, and that grin turned into a laugh.

"I felt the baby move!" she repeated, proclaiming the words as if she wanted all of Manhattan to hear. Caleb's eyes grew to the size of the sun in an instant. He lunged forwards and grabbed Hanna's stomach, moving his hands all about in an attempt to find the baby. Caleb suddenly stopped.

"I feel it," he whispered, shellshocked. Hanna grinned and chuckled. The rain continued to chuck out of the dark, almost-black skies. But Hanna and Caleb stood there, all four hands attached to Hanna's belly.

—

"There's your little one," the doctor said, pointing to the screen. Hanna was lying back on the bed, her head resting on her right arm behind her. Caleb was next to her, sitting on a plastic blue stool, his hand intertwined with Hanna's. They were both staring intently at the screen, eyes fixated on the small baby.

"Oh my God," Hanna whispered. She had the same reaction every time she saw it; she was struck for words. It was the same with Maddie, and it would be the same with every child Hanna would ever have.

"It's so small," Caleb mumbled.

"You're 19 weeks tomorrow, right?" the doctor asked Hanna. She was a friendly brunette, with dazzling green eyes. When Hanna had walked into the appointed over ten minutes ago, she let out a small gasp. The doctor—Marie Stiller—was jaw-droppingly beautiful. Hanna hadn't ever thought of OBGYN's being so perfect.

"Yes," Hanna replied, grinning. Her next question had been burning on her tongue throughout the morning. She was ready to burst with excitement. "Is it possible to find out the gender?"

Marie smiled softly and nodded. "Of course."

There was a little squeal from Hanna and she beamed as she glanced over at her husband. Caleb had the same expression plastered to his face.

"Let me just have a look," Marie said, focusing back on the computer. Hanna and Caleb gripped each other's hands in anticipation. "It's a…"

—

Hanna stepped outside of the huge building, her cheeks aching from smiling so much. Hanna was thrilled—and was ready to start skipping down the street. If it wasn't for Caleb pulling her back before she stepped outside into the storm, Hanna probably would have skipped all the way back to the apartment.

The rain hadn't eased at all. In fact, it was even harder than before. There was a flash of lighting as Hanna opened up her umbrella, and she jumped back in fright. Madelyn was hanging from Caleb's neck and whimpered. Caleb took his wife's hand in his own and stepped out from under the shelter of the doctor's office.

"Can we get a cab?" Hanna asked Caleb just seconds after stepping into the rain. There wasn't a chance any torrential weather was going to dampen her ecstatic mood, but Hanna wasn't risking it. Plus, her shoes had already been ruined enough on the way there. She didn't need them covered in even _more_ dirt.

"Sure," Caleb replied quickly. He was trying his hardest to keep Madelyn sheltered from the rain, but despite his best efforts, it wasn't working. With the added problem of Madelyn being absolutely terrified of thunder and lighting, a cab was just what he was thinking.

After carefully passing the toddler onto Hanna, Caleb waved for a taxicab to stop. It was New York, and yellow cabs were flying past every minute of every day, but not one wanted to stop for a small family standing in the pouring rain. Caleb began to curse at them, but stopped when Hanna nudged him hard in the side.

"We have a child here," she hissed, bouncing Madelyn onto her hip.

Caleb held up his hands as if he were surrendering. "Sorry, sorry." He turned back to the street, where a cab was just pulling up to the sidewalk. The cab slowed into a deep puddle that seemed to be pure mud, and it splashed all over Caleb's pants. Hanna immediately burst out laughing.

"Oh my God!" she laughed. "You look like you've peed yourself!"

Caleb's nostrils flared and he gave Hanna a death glare. "Get in the cab," he said simply, gesturing to the yellow car that was parked beside them. Sitting in the driver's seat was a middle-aged man, dressed like he was homeless. Hanna slid into the backseat and noticed the holes in the driver's sweater. She cringed.

"He looks like he's poor," Hanna whispered as Caleb clipped his seatbelt around his waist. Hanna pushed Madelyn off of her lap and onto the seat in between herself and Caleb, before doing the same.

"Hanna!" Caleb exclaimed a little too loudly. The driver looked back, thoroughly unimpressed. Caleb faux-smiled and quickly gave him directions to their apartment building, eager to get home.

"I'm just pointing out that he might not be a real cab driver," Hanna explained. Her voice was still in a harsh whisper, but Caleb was convinced the driver could hear every word. "What if he's a murderer or something?"

It was clear Hanna had no previous experience with cabs in New York. "It's fine, Hanna," Caleb assured, lightly slapping her thigh. Hanna wasn't sure, though. She had grown up in Rosewood, where everyone was guaranteed to be 100% safe. New York was so, so different.

—

Unlike the journey to the doctors office, the journey back wasn't long at all. Caleb had hoped he would see more of New York in a cab, but unfortunately, he didn't. He couldn't see a thing out of the steamed-up and raindrop-covered windows, and Madelyn was being too much of a distraction anyway. The toddler decided it would be a good idea to scream the whole way home, much to her parent's horror.

"Please be quiet," Hanna pleaded as she handed Maddie over to Caleb. She swung her legs out of the cab and heaved herself out, using Caleb to pull herself up. Maddie continued to wail…and wail, and wail, and wail.

"What's wrong, bug?" Caleb asked, bouncing the toddler up and down. Usually, that would stop the crying instantly, but today, it didn't. He began walking towards the large glass doors at the entrance to the building, and Hanna was quick to follow. Caleb walked inside, continuing to bounce Madelyn up and down. But Madelyn continued to scream, and was seemingly getting louder and louder by the second.

"Madelyn, I'm begging you," Hanna cried as she caught up with her husband. "Please stop crying!"

Caleb passed the reception desk, where he would normally have a quick chat with the doorman, but carried on straight for the elevator. The doorman, who's name was James, gave an understanding smile at a distraught looking Hanna. He had no children, he had told Caleb, but often looked after his younger siblings. Caleb had been explaining what a pain Maddie was being that day because she was refusing to leave the apartment with Bella and Bear. But compared to now, that day had been a breeze.

"Maddie," Caleb sighed as he leant against the gold-colored wall of the elevator, "I swear to God, if you don't stop crying in a minute, I will have to jump out of a window."

The toddler stopped her cries to gulp hard, but soon restarted them. It had all started in the cab when Madelyn had tried to take off her shoes, but Hanna had said no. It wasn't exactly a scold Hanna had given her, but it was definitely enough to start Maddie off crying and screaming. Hanna wished she had just let the toddler take off the damn shoes.

The elevator pinged and the doors opened. Caleb slowly trudged down the carpeted hallway, stopped outside of the correct apartment door—he may have once knocked on the wrong one after returning from work—and waited for Hanna to unlock it. The blonde furrowed through her purse in search of the key, and reemerged with one that had been covered in princess stickers. After leaving her keys and phone out on one fatal day, Hanna had found them covered—from top to bottom—in random stickers.

Hanna quickly unlocked the door, shoved it open and let Caleb burst inside. Both Bella and Bear came tottering up to Hanna and Caleb, barking loudly.

"No," Hanna said firmly when Bear jumped up at her. He left a bright red mark trailing down her leg from where his claw had accidentally dug in too hard, but Hanna ignored it. She was too busy focusing on how to get her daughter to calm down.

Almost twenty minutes later, and Caleb was collapsing onto the couch and letting out a long, exasperated sigh. Hanna laid down the magazine she had just picked up from the coffee table and raised an eyebrow.

"Sleeping," Caleb murmured. "Finally sleeping."

The apartment had been filled with the shrilling screams echoing all around as Caleb stayed in Madelyn's bedroom, begging her to lay down and nap. Hanna was sure the neighbours must have thought she and Caleb were hurting Maddie in some way, but rest assured, they weren't.

"What's going on with her?" Hanna asked. She wasn't expecting Caleb to know, of course, but instead was just thinking out loud. She stood up from the armchair she had been slouched in and joined her husband. Hanna nuzzled into the side of Caleb, and he lifted up his arm to wrap it around her shoulders. Hanna was sure to make herself comfy before adding, "She was so perfect in the doctor's."

"I know," Caleb agreed. He tilted his head to the left and chuckled. "Her face when the doctor said the gender was priceless. She looked so excited."

"Maybe the reality of getting a new sibling hit her in the cab," Hanna joked. She hadn't been expecting for Maddie to have any reaction when it came to finding out the gender; Hanna didn't think two-year-olds understood what it meant. But apparently, Madelyn did. She looked almost as excited as Hanna when they found out.

"Maybe," Caleb chuckled. He fiddled with a strand of Hanna's blonde locks, just as he always did, and smiled. "When do you want to tell everybody?"

"The gender? Oh, I don't know," Hanna replied. "I was thinking we could wait until the birth. That way, it'll be a surprise."

"That could work."

"We already have a name picked out, right?" Hanna checked. She struggled to turn her head, but saw Caleb nod out of the corner of her bright, blue eye. "Good."

—

The next morning was rough. Hanna had been up all night, tending to a very sick Madelyn, and was shattered. It turned out she was coming down with a bug…a bad bug. Hanna had never been very good with illness, but had to overcome her irrational fears. Caleb needed all the sleep he could get—he had his very first meeting the next day. So, Hanna ended up sleeping on a made-up bed of blankets and pillows on the floor of Madelyn's bedroom, ready to jump up and help at any moment, meaning she barely slept a wink.

"Morning," Caleb chirped as he wandered into the kitchen. He pecked Hanna's cheek as he swerved past her sitting on a bar stool. Hanna was alone in the kitchen, and had been for the past hour. It was eight o'clock, and after most of the night up and awake, Madelyn was finally dozing.

"Morning," Hanna groaned. She rubbed her temple with her pointer finger and breathed in deeply, shuddering as she breathed back out.

"How's Maddie?" Caleb asked, taking a big chunk out of the apple he had just picked up from the antique fruit bowl.

Hanna shook her head. "Not good. She's sleeping now, but was throwing up until a few hours ago."

Caleb cringed. "Are you sure you're okay to look after her today? I'm sure I can stay off work."

"You have your meeting, Caleb," Hanna replied. "Plus, you had to have yesterday off for the appointment. Anyway, I'll be fine."

Honestly, Caleb wasn't sure. After the way Maddie had acted the previous night, he was worried she would do it again. And Hanna would not be able to cope with that on her own. But then again, Hanna was right. He did have a big meeting today that would be pretty difficult to get out of…

"Fine," Caleb sighed after moments of silence. Hanna gave a weak smile as he bent down to kiss her forehead. "But you have to promise you'll call if you need _any_ thing. Okay?"

Hanna nodded. "I promise."

"Okay. I need to go," Caleb said as he glanced at the expensive watch strapped to his wrist. "I love you."

"I love you too." Hanna smiled. She waved gently when Caleb grabbed his bag and headed to the front door. The blonde let out a big yawn and slipped off of the stool. She trudged down the hallway, poked her head around Madelyn's door and glanced inside the bright pink room. Madelyn was fast asleep, her face as pale as a sheet. Hanna sighed quietly with relief; she was worried she'd have to deal with another load of washing the bed sheets. Now she knew Madelyn was sleeping, Hanna was able to go to bed herself. After all, she was ready to fall asleep on the spot.

—

Caleb stood over his desk, shuffling hastily through the piles and piles of paper stacked on his desk. He was desperately trying to find the sheets he had left on the glass desk on Friday, ones he needed for the huge meeting he was about to take part in.

There was a knock at the door and Kenneth West, Caleb's new boss, stepped inside. He cleared his throat loudly, interrupting Caleb's search. "Everything okay, Mr Rivers?"

"Yes, sir. Everything's fine," Caleb replied quickly. He noticed the corner of a piece of yellow paper sticking out of a cabinet draw and lunged towards it. There, tucked inside of a filled-up folder, was the sheets Caleb was in desperate need of. He breathed a sigh of relief and picked them up, turning towards an impatient-looking Kenneth.

"Are you ready to head to the meeting?" Kenneth asked as Caleb flicked through the paper, checking everything was there and most importantly correct.

"Of course," Caleb replied. He fiddled with the striped tie around his neck and gave a nervous smile before walking past Kenneth.

Kenneth firmly slapped Caleb's back in reassurance. "You'll do great, Caleb!" he boomed loudly. The pair headed down the open-plan office and stopped outside of a door, filled with official, smart men and women. After multiple deep breaths in, Caleb gripped the door handle and slowly turned it. He opened it up with a big, friendly smile on his face.

"Phew," Caleb murmured as he left the office room three hours later. The meeting had been long, but it had been worth it. The men and women seemed to love him, and Kenneth managed to give them many reasons why Caleb was such an amazing employee. In fact, when Kenneth and Caleb emerged from the office, he mumbled to Caleb, "I wouldn't be surprised if they offered you a job."

Caleb had been working with Kenneth for just a few weeks—he couldn't believe his ears. Never in his wildest of dreams had Caleb ever imagined job opportunities like these.

Meanwhile, Hanna was sitting on the couch with a very floppy, very weak Madelyn. They cuddling close, both intently staring at the TV in front of them. Since Maddie awoke just a short two hours ago, the atmosphere had been nothing but calm…and Hanna loved it. She didn't love the fact her baby girl was sick, but the peace and quiet she was getting felt like a dream.

"Mommy," Maddie croaked, turning her small head to look at Hanna. "Dink?"

"You want a drink?" Hanna asked. The toddler gave a small nod, and Hanna carefully removed herself from the couch. She padded across the floor, mindful of Bear, who was jumping around like a hyperactive child. The last time Hanna checked, Bella was sleeping in her bed in Hanna and Caleb's room, her small head hanging over the side. Both pups weren't adjusting too well to living in an apartment, much to Hanna's disappointment.

After filling up an orange cup with water, Hanna made her way back into the living room to find Frozen, Madelyn's favorite movie, had ended and the credits were rolling up the screen.

"What do you want to watch now, Mads?" Hanna asked, holding out the cup of water to the toddler. Maddie took it and immediately shoved it into her mouth, gulping downs gallons by the second. Within moments the cup was empty, and Maddie handed it back to her mom, who was standing in amazement. There was a small smirk on Madelyn's face, the first somewhat of a smile Hanna had seen in over 12 hours.

"Frozen 'gain," Madelyn replied to Hanna's earlier question. The blonde tutted, rolling her eyes, but grabbed the remote and hit rewind. If it wasn't for Maddie being unwell, she would not have just sat through two hours of a movie she had watched over thirty times, and would not be about to watch it again.

"The things you do for yours kids," Hanna sighed to herself as she slumped back onto the couch.

—

Late that evening, when the skies were beginning to darken, and the busy New Yorkers were leaving their sky rise office buildings to head home, Caleb was standing in front of his Land Rover, pulling out his phone from his back pocket. Since his meeting that morning, Caleb had been waiting for the dreaded phone call from Hanna, announcing that he would be needed back at home. Luckily, the call had never come, and Caleb was able to complete a full day at work like normal. He was still buzzing with excitement from his meeting. Everyone seemed to love him, even Kenneth had said so when he joined Caleb in the cafeteria at lunchtime.

Caleb slid into the driver's seat and shoved his phone—with, thankfully, no worrying messages from Hanna—into his bag, which he then chucked onto the passenger's seat. The sun was shining brightly, a happy change from the miserable weather the previous day, and had heated the car into an oven. There were cars rushing past the parking lot every second—typical New York. Caleb started the engine and the car roared into life.

Caleb wasn't used to being stuck in traffic every day of the week. He had barely moved a meter in the past hour, after leaving work over two and a half hours ago. The red Honda in the lane next to Caleb's Land Rover rolled forwards whilst Caleb sat drumming his fingers against the steering wheel.

—

It took more than three hours longer than Caleb had expected, but he finally pulled into the lot of the huge, impressive apartment building.

After feeding Madelyn a simple banana, and letting her rest in her bed with Bella by her feet, Hanna was now in the kitchen, leaning over the island with three menus in her hands. She had read each one thoroughly, but now couldn't decide what she wanted: Mexican, Chinese or a burger.

"What do you want, baby?" Hanna said out loud, patting her baby bump. She wandered over to the refrigerator and pulled out an ice-cold bottle of water before taking a long, refreshing sip. As she headed back to the kitchen island and the menus, the front door unlocked and in burst Caleb.

"Babe?" Caleb called out loudly.

Hanna poked her head out and smiled. "Hey!" She hurried over and jumped into her husband's arms. Hanna began kissing Caleb repeatedly, wrapping her own arms around his neck.

"Hey, hey," Caleb chuckled, pulling back. "What's going on?"

The blonde let go and took a large step back, smiling. "I've just missed you today."

Caleb smiled warmly. "I've missed you too. I love you, babe."

"I have a question for you," Hanna said, moving forwards and undoing the tie strapped around Caleb's neck. "Can we order something in tonight? The baby _really_ doesn't want me to cook."

Caleb couldn't help but laugh. "The baby, huh?"

"Mhm," Hanna nodded quickly. "So…Mexican?"

 **A/N - okay im really not sure about this chapter. i kind of feel like its a bit of a mess ? but i wanted to post something for all of you.**

 **i hope you like it though!**

 **so hanna and caleb found out the gender :)) i haven't yet decided whether im going to wait until the baby is born, or actually write in in the story soon.**

 **be sure to leave a review about this chapter! i really appreciate them!**


	21. Chapter 21 - part 1

**A/N - just a quick authors note to let you know that this and the next chapter are supposed to be one, but apparently it was too long or something lol okay.**

 **oh and chapter 22 will be the final chapter of this story.**

 **thank you to everyone who reviewed, favorited and followed; it all means so much. i love you all so much!**

Caleb was sitting at his desk, staring into space. He had completed his set work for the day almost an hour ago, and still had at least another two left in the office. Caleb's daze was suddenly broken when a loud, heavy and familiar knock echoed through the room.

Standing on the other side of the door was Kenneth, Caleb's boss. He cleared his throat and straightened his tie before walking in. "Caleb," he began, "I have some news."

Caleb immediately stood up, his heart racing. Was he already being fired? He'd only been at the company for no longer than two months. "W-what is it?" he stuttered, nervous.

Kenneth's face was stern and serious as he moved closer, but soon relaxed when he reached Caleb. "Don't worry, it's nothing bad," Kenneth assured Caleb, chuckling at the brunette's expression. Caleb, too, relaxed and internally sighed a breath of relief. At least he wasn't going home jobless. "In fact, it's the opposite. I think you'll be thrilled."

"You do?" Caleb replied, surprised.

"That meeting you went to a month or so back, do you remember what I said?"

Caleb thought for a moment. "About the ginger woman's hair?" Why would he be thrilled about someone's hair? Had the woman had it cut or something?

Kenneth let out a hearty laugh and shook his head. "No, no. About other jobs within the company. Well, I received a phone call this morning from our headquarters in California." Caleb's heart started speeding up again. Was Kenneth going where Caleb thought he was going with this? "They've offered you a job."

Meanwhile, Hanna was leaning against a metal post in the local elementary school's park. Madelyn and Chloe were running themselves ragged, frolicking in the long, tall grass in the fields beyond. Aria, who was holding baby Caden, was standing next to Hanna. She was explaining the trouble she had been having finding a decent babysitter to look after Chloe and Caden. Apparently, the one she and Ezra had hired the previous night had turned out to smoke weed—Aria had caught her in the alley below their apartment puffing away when she headed down to take out the trash.

Hanna hadn't that problem. In fact, she hadn't had to hire a babysitter once since moving to New York. As soon as Caleb had started his new job, it seemed there was never any free time to go out as a couple.

"Han, are you even listening to me?" Aria asked, snapping her fingers in Hanna's face.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm listening," Hanna said quickly. Although, she very clearly wasn't. Instead, Hanna was dreaming about going on a warm, sunny vacation with her dreamy husband. Caleb had brought up the idea in the car the previous week. He had mentioned that once the new baby was here, the four of them should go to Hawaii.

"So what did I just say?" Aria tested. She knew full well that Hanna hadn't been listening—the blonde had been in a world of her own.

"Huh?"

"Oh forget it," she tutted. "So, do you and Caleb have anything planned for your anniversary tomorrow?"

Hanna's face drooped, and she shook her head sadly. "He's working."

"Han," Aria sighed, wrapping her arms around the blonde to comfort her. She knew how obsessed Hanna was with things like anniversaries. Ever since she started dating Caleb back when she was only seventeen, Hanna had always—never once forgetting—planned an extra special, extra romantic night. She liked everything perfect, planned out right down to a T. Aria knew Hanna must have been heartbroken she wasn't able to spend the night with Caleb. "It's okay," Aria whispered. "There'll be other days you can celebrate instead."

Hanna shrugged, unconvinced. It didn't seem like there would be other days. All of the other days seemed to be consumed by Caleb's work and job. Hanna needed to get her mind off of it—it wasn't going to help anything if she just drooped around. "Can we go and eat?"

Just two hours later, Hanna Aria, Maddie, Chloe and Caden had visited yet another park. This one, though, was closer to the Fitz's apartment, which turned out to be very handy when it came to Madelyn declaring she _really_ needed to use the potty.

Hanna was gazing around Aria and Ezra's living room. It had been renovated since she had last seen it; the couch had been replaced, the walls had been painted, and there were many more photos hanging up. Hanna was thoroughly impressed, especially after being disappointed by the previous state of the living room.

"I like it," Hanna announced, nodding. She turned to Aria, who was returning from the kitchen with two cups of coffee, and smiled. "It looked really good."

The petite brunette grinned before placing the steaming mugs on the oakwood coffee table in the centre of the room. It matched the colors of each photo frame on the wall, Hanna had noticed. After Madelyn used the bathroom, Chloe had decided she needed the bathroom, and then Caden decided _he_ needed the bathroom—except he went in his diaper. When it came to everyone finishing up with the bathroom trips, all Hanna and Aria wanted was a rest, so they decided to stay in the apartment for a while.

Chloe and Madelyn had escaped to Chloe's bedroom, after Chloe wanted to show Madelyn her new collection of dolls her grandma had just bought her. Caden was lying in his crib, fast asleep. So, finally, the two moms were getting their rest.

"Have you talked to Caleb about celebrating on another day?" Aria asked, referring to the earlier conversation of Hanna and Caleb being unable to celebrate their anniversary. She sat down on the leather couch and crossed her legs under her. Hanna sat opposite, one leg over the other.

Hanna shook her head firmly. "We can't. Caleb's working most of the time, then we're going to Rosewood for a week to stay with my mom, and then we've got to sort out everything for the baby. We just don't have the time to celebrate."

"Oh," Aria sighed. She adjusted her feet and took a sip of coffee, trying to think of a new, happier conversation to start. "When are we going to find out the gender of the new baby, then?" she smirked, raising an eyebrow.

Hanna rolled her eyes, but let out a small laugh. "I told you," she groaned. "Not until the birth!"

"I can't wait four more months!" Aria cried. "Tell me now!"

"I'm not telling you," Hanna chuckled. She mimed zipping her lips closed and throwing away the key, before shrugging as if to say, _What can you do?_

Aria scowled at her best friend and crossed her arms vigorously. "I hate you."

"I know you love me."

"I don't. I _really_ don't," Aria said. She turned to face the wall, but saw the smirk on Hanna's face. "Don't even look at me if you're not going to tell me."

"Ar, I can't tell you and not tell everyone else," Hanna said as she cupped the cup of coffee in her hands.

"Yes you can!"

Hanna let out an exasperated sigh. It was almost like being in a never ending argument with Madelyn about the colors of rainbow. Aria wasn't going to let Hanna _not_ tell her, just like Madelyn wouldn't let Hanna be right about the fact orange wasn't the same as red.

"It's twins," Hanna suddenly announced, the smirk on her face disappearing. Aria's head slowly turned back to look at the blonde, and her jaw dropped. "I'm just kidding!" Hanna then exclaimed.

The brunette opened her mouth to say something, but sighed and just gave Hanna a deadly death glare instead.

—

Caleb was still in shock when he arrived home late that evening. California? He had been offered a job in California? This was insane, he thought. Hanna was going to be over the moon when he told her, Caleb just knew it. With his mom living in Montecito, and the job being in Los Angeles, Caleb would only be a drive away from her.

"Babe!" Caleb called out as he slammed the door shut. Feet padded out from the kitchen and in wandered Hanna, carrying a large wooden spoon covered in a red, tomato-ey paste. Caleb lunged forwards and gave his wife a quick peck before dropping his bag on the floor and unlacing his patent-leather brogues. "How was your day?" he asked, throwing one shoe over to the rack by the front door.

Hanna began to turn back to the kitchen, replying, "It was good. We met up with Aria, Chlo and Caden."

After throwing over the other shoe, Caleb followed Hanna into the kitchen and was hit by a strong waft of deliciousness. His stomach rumbled loudly. The sandwich and bag of chips he had scoffed at work definitely weren't enough to keep him going. "This smells ah-mazing."

"Thank you," Hanna replied sweetly. Back in high school, Hanna couldn't even toast a piece of bread, let alone make seven different meals a week. Then again, Hanna couldn't look after a child for more than an hour without wanting to strangle them, and now she was a mother to one and another on the way. There was no doubt about how much Caleb had impacted on her life; he had definitely made her maternal. "How was work?" she asked as she dropped the wooden spoon onto the marbled counter.

"It was okay," Caleb said casually. He wasn't going to give anything away just yet. He wanted to announce the job offer at the perfect moment, which was not in the kitchen as dinner cooked next to them.

"Just okay?" Hanna asked. Usually it was good, or great, or even fantastic, not "okay".

"Mhm," Caleb murmured.

"Daddy!" a loud voice squealed. What sounded like a herd of elephants trampling into the kitchen was actually a very excited Madelyn, who had clearly missed Caleb during the day. She threw herself into his arms, beaming from ear to ear.

"I missed you, bug," Caleb laughed, stroking the back of the toddler's head. He felt something strange dangling on the end of a lock of hair, and pulled out a hair pin with a bright, shiny pearl stuck on it. He chuckled, confused, and threw it onto the side. Hanna grabbed it, noticing it was hers from Aria's wedding. She had no idea how Madelyn had gotten her grimy hands on.

"Love oo, Daddy," Maddie whispered, her face so close to Caleb's, he could feel her warm breath on his cheek.

Before Caleb could reply with, "I love you, too," Hanna opened up the oven loudly, clattering around as she pulled out the dish of food. Steam floated up into the air, and the kitchen was overpowered by the same delicious smell Caleb had been mesmerized just a few minutes before.

Half an hour later, when all three plates had been cleared, Caleb turned to his wife. Hanna was intently watching the television screen, obsessing over the fact Leonardo DiCaprio was on. _Titanic_ had been playing for the last twenty minutes, and Hanna had barely glanced away since it had started.

"Han?"

"Hm?" Hanna mumbled. She didn't bother to even glance at Caleb, too focused on the blond dreamboat on TV. When the evening sun beamed through the windows and reflected off of the TV screen, affecting the picture, Hanna finally looked away. She raised an eyebrow at Caleb. "What's up?"

"I need to tell you something."

"What is it?"

"I've been offered a position in the Californian headquarters for my company," Caleb rushed. Hanna stared at him, stunned into silence. Caleb looked at her, searching for some kind of reaction, but found nothing. Hanna looked completely shellshocked, as if he had just told her she only had minutes to live. "Hanna?"

"You said no, right?" the blonde finally said. Now it was Caleb's turn to be stunned. That was not the reaction he had hoped for, or expected.

"Well, no, not exactly."

In fact, Caleb had said quite the opposite. When Kenneth broke the news, Caleb was indeed, just like Kenneth had said he would be, thrilled. Without thinking, Caleb had said yes straight away. Apparently that wasn't the correct response.

"You said yes? Why?"

"Because I want the job?" Caleb didn't mean it to, but the reply ended up coming out more like a question, and it looked like Hanna was about to say, "No you don't," but luckily, she refrained from saying so. She just scoffed instead. "I thought you'd be excited. California, Han. We could live in California!"

"I don't want to live in California," Hanna declared. The baby gave a strong kick inside of her stomach, but Hanna didn't squeal excitedly like she normally did. She just stayed staring at Caleb, waiting for a reply.

"You've never said that before," Caleb stuttered, confused.

"Well you've never brought up moving to California."

Caleb felt like he was in a daze, but stood up and joined his wife on the couch. He placed a reassuring hand on her thigh. "Babe, this job could be everything I ever wanted. It's in California with my mom, it pays so well, and it's working for an amazing company."

"Look, I'm not moving to California, Caleb," Hanna announced, standing up. Caleb's hand dropped from her leg and landed on the couch, his wrist twisting in an odd angle.

"I moved to New York for you, Hanna!"

"What? No you didn't!" Hanna exclaimed. Madelyn was only three doors down from the living room, happy playing with her toys, but Hanna was suddenly aware the toddler would be able to every shout.

" _You_ got a job here, so _I_ got a job here. This move was your idea, not mine," Caleb said, his voice quieter. He'd had the same thought as Hanna: Maddie could hear everything.

Hanna's face reddened with anger and she let out an "That is so not true, Caleb. We both wanted to move here!"

Caleb cupped his face in his sweaty, clammy palms and started shaking his head. "I don't want to argue about this. Let's just talk about it tomorrow."

"No, we can talk about it now," Hanna ordered.

The brunette stood up, his face strained. Caleb honestly felt like he was going to cry. "Why don't you want to move to California?"

"Because I'm not moving to the other side of the freaking country just so I can sit in an apartment the while day looking after a toddler with no friends or family to help me. I can do that here just fine, thanks."

"What?"

"You heard me, Caleb," Hanna muttered. The baby kicked again, but she continued to stay still. "I'm stuck here looking after Madelyn 24/7 without my husband, but at least I have my mom nearby. If I'm in California, I won't have anyone!"

"You'll have _my_ mom!" Caleb cried out, as if it were obvious.

"Oh yeah? How reliable has she been in the past? I wouldn't count on her being there for me."

Caleb stopped. Hanna stopped. Everything stopped. Hanna couldn't believe the words that had just come out of her mouth. She had never once thought about Claudia like that—she had loved Claudia like a second mother. Caleb was shocked, too. The room had an awkward silence wafting around, and Hanna and Caleb stood staring at each other.

"I'm not moving to California," Hanna insisted.

"And I'm not passing up an opportunity this good," Caleb replied, shaking his head.

With tears brimming and her jaw trembling, Hanna nodded understandingly and pushed past the brunette. Without another word, Hanna unlocked the front door, stepped outside, and slammed it shut.

Caleb was left standing there, unsure whether he should move, or even breathe. What the hell had just happened? Hanna was supposed to be happy, excited to hear about the job offer. She was supposed to jump at the chance, not shoot it down.

Hanna walked straight past the elevator and stomped down the white staircase, firmly gripping the wooden handrail as she went. Just like Caleb, Hanna didn't know what had just happened, either. She wasn't expecting him to come home with an announcement like that. What was she supposed to say? That she would love to move to the other side of the country only two months after moving to New York? Hanna was only just beginning to create a life for herself in the Big Apple, and she wasn't prepared to give that up for…well, nothing. There was nothing for her in California—nothing at all.

After storming out of the building, Hanna was left with two options: walk around the neighbourhood for an hour or two to let herself cool off, or get into her car and have a relaxing drive to calm herself. She chose the drive, deciding it would be a better way to compose herself.

Hanna checked the purse that she had picked up on her way to the front door, and found her car keys buried deep inside. There were also a packet of tissues, two packets of mint gum, one of Madelyn's plastic cup, and a hairbrush. Hanna panicked; had she left her phone inside the apartment? As if on queue, there was a buzz from her back pocket, and she pulled out her iPhone. It was a message from her mom, wandering if she, Caleb and Maddie were still coming to Rosewood for their week-long vacation break. Hanna ignored the message and dropped the phone into her purse before heading towards her car.

The sun was just beginning to set as Hanna turned left out of the apartment building's parking lot. The sky was a beautiful, photogenic mix of reds and purples. It was definitely an Instagram worthy picture, but Hanna was way too focused on her emotions rather than the pretty evening sky. How could Caleb just expect her to up and move to the other side of the country? Did he have _any_ sense at all? Moving from Pennsylvania to New York was one thing, but New York to Cali was another.

An hour and a half later, Hanna found herself on the all too familiar route home to Rosewood. It was an accident; she didn't intend to head in that direction, she just hadn't been concentrating on the road at all. Hanna was still shocked over the evening's events. Why would Caleb ever think Hanna would want to move all that way? Did he know at her all?

Whilst driving along the highway, Hanna started drumming her fingers against the steering wheel. The car was silent, and she wasn't used to that. Normally she'd have Maddie squealing in the back, or Caleb talking about the vacation he wanted to take next summer with the new baby, or even Bella or Bear growling in their cage. It was a rare opportunity for Hanna to be alone, and she would usually jump at the chance and enjoy every moment, but right now, she longed for her husband to be with her.

All of a sudden, Hanna felt a twinge of guilt. Maybe she had been a little too selfish. Maybe California wouldn't be that bad, especially with the year-round sun. She'd certainly be able to tan all of the time. And maybe even meet some famous actors and actresses. And if Caleb's work was in Los Angeles, she might be able to get another costume designing job. But Hanna suddenly stopped. She realized she hadn't even given Caleb a chance to even tell her where the job was. This was wrong. This was all wrong. Hanna had freaked at Caleb for no reason and stormed out with no warning. Hanna felt bad…really bad. She wanted to go home and apologize desperately, but she was stuck on the highway, unable to turn back to New York.

It looked like she was heading to Rosewood.


	22. Chapter 21 - part 2

Caleb was still standing in the middle of the living room, completely and utterly confused, five minutes after Hanna had left. It wasn't until Madelyn came out, tears filling up her bright blue eyes, when he finally moved.

"Mommy," Maddie mumbled, a tear falling. "Mommy?"

Caleb didn't know what to say. "Mommy's just gone out for a bit to do some shopping," he improvised. "She'll be back any moment, bug. Okay?" But there was a crack in Caleb's voice that gave it all away. He had no idea where Hanna was, or when she'd be back. Hanna's reaction had been so surprising, it had taken Caleb minutes to get his head around what had actually happened. He needed to find her, apologize for whatever he did wrong. Of course he didn't expect her to drop everything and move the other side of the country…or did he? Caleb didn't know what he wanted Hanna to do. He didn't know anything except the fact he _needed_ to find his wife and bring her home.

"Maddie, get your bear," Caleb suddenly said to the toddler. Madelyn looked up, confused. "We're going out."

With Maddie, her stuffed teddy bear, her drink, and her backpack in his arms, Caleb hurried into the elevator. There were already three people in there, all giving him extremely weird glances. It wasn't surprising; he looked kind of a mess. With his hair ragged, a random coat thrown on over his work attire, and Madelyn in her pajamas and a grey sweater, they both looked messy. A man in an expesneve suit, that Hanna would have immediately spotted as being Gucci, stood leaning against the railing, reading _The New York Times;_ a frail, elderly woman who lived on the floor above Hanna and Caleb—who was known to have at least eight cats living with her—smiled at Madelyn; a classy woman with a tightly pulled back ponytail stood staring at the doors, probably praying she could get out ASAP.

The elevator pinged, the doors opened and Caleb almost flew out. He ran through the lobby, forgetting to say hi to Will, the receptionist/doorman, and out of the large double doors that led to the busy Manhattan street. Caleb ran the short distance to the parking lot and stopped at the entrance, searching for where he had last parked his Land Rover. When he finally spotted it, he noticed the car that was always parked to the right of it was gone. Hanna had driven off.

Caleb let out a distraught sigh, but continued towards the Land Rover. After unlocking it quickly, he strapped Madelyn in, and within seconds, the car was rumbling to life. Madelyn was clearly bewildered—her face proved it. She had no idea what was going on, but didn't have the ability to ask where they were going. One minute she was in the living room, wandering where her mommy had gone, and the next she was in a car, about to head onto the busy streets of New York.

It was nearly seven o'clock—Maddie's bedtime. She had already yawned three times on the journey down to the car, and was now ready to be tucked into her warm bed, have a nice story read to her by Daddy, and fall asleep with Bella at her feet. When Caleb glanced at his daughter in the back, he noticed her eyes drooping. He didn't know how long it would take to find Hanna, and couldn't bring Madelyn out all night—she would barely sleep a wink. There was only one person Caleb knew in New York that could look after a toddler in such short notice.

"What are you doing here?" Aria asked as she opened up her front door. Standing in front of her was a very flushed-looking Caleb, carrying a very tired-looking Maddie. When Caleb had pressed the buzzer, asking to come inside, Aria had been more than confused…and slightly worried. She had never had him come to her apartment without a warning, or without Hanna.

"Can you look after Madelyn?" Caleb asked, shoving the toddler in the brunette's arms without even waiting for a response.

"Uh, sure," Aria replied, struggling with Madelyn. She strung her over her shoulder and rubbed her back softly. "Why?"

Caleb debated whether to tell Aria. She was Hanna's best friend, but if she knew Hanna was missing—well, not exactly missing, but out somewhere with no one but herself knowing where—she would more than likely freak out. He decided to keep the story short and sweet, leaving out the major details. "I need to get Hanna," he said simply.

"Where?"

"Look, I've got to go, like now," he rushed. "Thanks for looking after Maddie."

—

Hanna was now only fifty miles from Rosewood. The sun had set, leaving the skies a dark, dark black. The crescent moon illuminated the quiet road Hanna was heading down. She had driven the route hundreds—maybe thousands—of times before, but suddenly a moment of panic. Everything seemed so different in the dark; the roads, the cars, the houses. There was a certain building Hanna passed every time that always reassured her she was going the right way, but in the dark, that building had disappeared. Hanna just prayed she was heading in the right direction.

With her headlights glowing dimly, and no street lights, Hanna struggled to see beyond three meters as she traveled down the deserted road. There was an intersection, and Hanna squinted as she tried to search for any sign of another car coming her way. When she thought it was clear, the car rolled slowly forwards and turned left.

And then suddenly, out of nowhere, a large truck slammed into the side of Hanna's small car, sending it flying.

—

Caleb was in Harlem, only three miles away from Manhattan. Honestly, Caleb was clueless as to what he should be looking for. It wasn't as if he was expecting to spot Hanna's car along the streets of a random neighbourhood in New York. But he wasn't giving up hope. He would find Hanna, apologize for everything, and tell her he won't take the job the job in LA, even if it meant sacrificing a hell of a good job.

In the distance, Caleb spotted a small blonde woman walking under the street light, and he slowed down to a snails pace and leant over the steering wheel to get a better look. It wasn't Hanna. Of course it wasn't Hanna, Caleb ridiculed. Hanna was in her car, not walking the streets of Harlem. This had been the fourth time Caleb's hopes had been risen. He had been in the car for over half an hour, and had passed three blondes of a similar height to Hanna back in Manhattan after leaving Aria's street, all three times believing it was his wife. It never was.

"Where are you, Hanna?" Caleb whispered harshly into the tension-filled air around him. He gripped the wheel with a strong force, using all of his might to pray and hope that Hanna was somewhere nearby. This was certainly not what Caleb had imagined was going to happen when he told Hanna about his job offer. He hadn't been expecting to be trolling the streets of New York in search of her, wandering if she was even in the city anymore.

Caleb's phone lit up on the passenger's seat. It was a phone call from Aria.

"I'm driving. What's going on?" Caleb said as soon as he had swiped _answer_ on the screen. He had the phone in one hand, the other tightly clutching the steering wheel.

"Maddie's crying for you and Hanna," Aria explained. She was currently cradling the toddler as her own two children slept. Ezra was next to her, trying to watch ESPN over the loud wails. "Are you going to be long?"

"I don't know," Caleb replied. And that was true; he knew absolutely nothing. A cop car turned out from a street and slowly rolled along behind Caleb. "Tell Maddie we'll get her in the morning," he said quickly, glancing out of the rear window. "I need to go, there's a cop behind me."

The cop car soon turned down another street, and Caleb debated whether to call Aria back and explain why he couldn't collect Madelyn, but decided against it. He could do that once he'd found Hanna.

—

Hanna jolted forwards, her head smashing against the steering wheel. The car started flipping over, and Hanna instinctively threw her hands over her face as a source of protection, but the shards of glass that were flying through the car managed to reach her cheeks anyway. The car picked up speed as it hurtled down the street. The windshield smashed into thousands of tiny pieces. The force of the truck had torn off all four of the doors, and Hanna was nearly thrown out of the passengers side. The car bounced along the street and Hanna's body hit the roof every time.

And then the car skidded to a halt. Everything fell silent. Two of the wheels rolled away. The engine burst into a mass of bright orange sparks. Hanna lay hanging out of the gap where the driver's door once was.

The sound of an ambulance echoed through the deserted streets, and the flashing lights reflected off of the mangled vehicle.

—

Caleb had given up. After three and a half hours of driving aimlessly around New York, he sat in an empty lot in Queens, his head in his hands. He didn't know what to do. Caleb had realized how pointless the driving around had been. There was no chance he would have found Hanna in her car, no chance at all.

Hanna must be back at the apartment now, worrying about where he and Maddie were. Caleb checked his phone for the fifth time that minute for messages from her, but there was nothing, just like there had been the other five times. Caleb threw his phone away and it bounced against the car door, hitting the window and then falling onto the cushioned seat. As he turned the keys and the engine roared, the phone started ringing. Caleb prayed it was Hanna.

"Hello?" he croaked. The number hadn't been Hanna's, but maybe her phone had run out of charges and she was using someone else's.

"Is this Hanna Rivers' husband?" a deep, gruff, male voice asked.

"Uh, y-yes," Caleb stuttered, confused.

"There's been a fatal accident in Pennsylvania involving your wife and unborn child."

And at that moment, Caleb felt his world crumble around him.


	23. Chapter 23

**A/N - behold the last chapter of this story.**

 **thank you to every single person who left a review, who favorited and who followed this story. it all so appreciated. i love you all so much!**

 **i don't yet have an idea for another story (if anyone has any suggestions, please comment them ;) ) but i'll try and get one posted asap.**

 **again, thank you to everyone!**

Caleb couldn't move. He was sat on the king-sized bed he shared with his perfect wife, staring at three pictures hung opposite on the cream walls. They were of their wedding day, one of the happiest days of their lives. Caleb felt his heart break within him, and he had to look away.

 _The trees danced softly in the weak wind, the leaves gently rustling. It was fall, and everything was a beautiful mix of red and orange. Everything was calm, quiet. A leaf floated slowly to the ground._

 _Just across the street, hundreds of people gathered in the grounds outside of a beautiful, Victorian church. Alison straightened out the skirt of her long, chiffon dress and moved an inch to the right. Emily linked her arm with Aria's, her gold bracelet slipping down her wrist. Spencer kicked a stone out of the way of her four-inch heels. And Hanna stood staring at the camera, grinning from ear to ear. Her bridesmaids shuffled around, doing as the cameraman asked. Emily swapped places with petite Aria, Spencer and Alison murmured over who was taller between them._

 _"Okay, then!" the cameraman, Tony, yelled, holding his pointer finger up to the bright, blue sky. It was November, but the weather was oddly warm, but Hanna wasn't complaining. She'd been praying for good weather since she and her new husband set the date. "I'm going to take the photo after three, okay? Ready? One…two…three!"_

 _All five of the girls beamed as the camera snapped the shot. Emily, Spencer, Aria and Alison were all clad in stunning, night-blue dresses that fell to the ground. Their heels were nearly six inches, and they—well, not Aria—towered over the small, tiny cameraman. He had been forced to adjust his shot every time one of the girls moved from one foot to the other._

 _As stunningly beautiful as the four bridesmaids were, they were nothing compared to the bride herself. Hanna stole the show—quite literally. As she had walked down the aisle just an hour earlier, everyone's jaws hit the floor. She was dressed in a backless, ivory, lace mermaid dress that accented every single one of her perfections, from her top to her bottom. The gown had a cathedral train that followed along behind her, cap sleeves that showed off her toned arms, and v-neck that subtly hinted at what was underneath._

 _"Nice one!" the cameraman exclaimed after quickly checking the picture he had just taken. It was perfect, with all five of the girls showing off their perfectly whitened teeth. "All right. Now for a few bride and groom shots."_

 _Caleb was called over, and he came running. As Hanna had entered the church and spotted her fiancé standing at the alter, she had let out a little gasp. She was sure she had never seen someone look so handsome as Caleb did in his Hugo Boss three-piece. The handkerchief sticking out of the pocket matched the color of Hanna's bouquet_ exactly. _The waistcoat was just tight enough to show off Caleb's toned chest. The light bounced off of Caleb's shiny patent leather shoes._

 _"Groom, can you pick up your wife bridal style for me, please?" Tony asked. Caleb did just that, and Hanna let out a small squeal. She threw her head back, laughing loudly, and the cameraman was quick to take the picture. It turned out perfectly, and would be the first picture Hanna and Caleb would later hang up in their first house together._

 _Caleb carefully placed Hanna back on the ground, mindful of her long trail getting in his way. "Now, bride," Tony called, "you need to lean into the groom, and stare directly at the camera. Groom, while she's doing that, I need you to kiss the top of her head. Got it?"_

 _It took another two hours to finish the photos. After the bride and groom shots had been perfected, it was time for family ones. The family pictures took the longest by far. Instead of a normal family having just two parents, both Hanna and Caleb had four…each. The first pictures were with Ashley and Ted. The next were with Tom, Hanna's dad, Isabelle, Hanna's step-mom, and Kate, Hanna's step-sister. Then there were the ones with Claudia, Caleb's mom, her husband, and her two sons. And finally, there were the ones with Jamie, Caleb's father._

There was a quiet tap on the door and Claudia poked her head around. She noticed Caleb was sitting just as she had left him: in his pajama pants. Without saying anything, she quietly padded in, headed straight for the closet and picked up the all-black suit that was hanging from the door. Claudia walked over to her son and carefully sat down next to him.

"Caleb, you need to get ready," she said quietly. "You don't want to be late, do you?" Caleb didn't move. His eyes were glazed over, like his thoughts were in a completely different world of their own. Claudia sighed. She hadn't gotten a word out of her son in over three weeks, a month after the accident had happened. "Caleb, please. We need to leave soon," she pleaded. Caleb slowly turned his head towards her, but continued to stay silent.

"I can't go," Caleb croaked. His voice cracked, and his eyes started filling with tears.

"You need to, Caleb," Claudia replied, her voice as firm as she could possibly make it. "I'm not letting you miss the funeral of your wife and child."

Caleb swallowed hard and turned back to the wall. "It was a boy," he mumbled. Claudia breathed in deeply, but then stopped.

"What?"

"The baby," Caleb explained, "was a boy."

Claudia let out a stifled breath. Caleb hadn't told anyone the gender of the baby; it just didn't feel right. He and Hanna had promised each other they would keep it a secret from all of their friends and family until the birth, where they would release his name as a give away. But there wasn't going to be a birth. There wasn't going to be a moment where Caleb would hold his son of the first time. There was going to be nothing.

"Did—did he have a name?" Claudia said, her hands beginning to tremble.

Caleb had to take a deep breath. It felt wrong, saying this. Hanna would have killed him if she knew he was telling someone before the birth. But Hanna couldn't kill him. She couldn't kill him because she had been killed herself. And Caleb was never going to see her again. "Finley Elliot," he finally whispered.

Claudia felt a pain in her gut. She would have—should have—had a grandson. Her first grandson. And his name…oh, how perfect the name was, she thought. "It's lovely. I remember the day you were born; how happy I was I had a son. And although I never had the chance to watch you grow up, you were always the best thing to have ever happened to me. When I left you, I never thought I'd see you again. I still haven't forgiven myself to this very day. And I can assure you, you won't ever forgive yourself if you don't go to this funeral. This is your only chance to say goodbye to Hanna and Finley properly."

The pain was still raw, so raw. Just hearing her name sent a ripple of grief through his soul. But Caleb wasn't just grieving for his wife. He was grieving for the son he never got to meet. The son he never got to hold. The son he never to got tell how damn much he was loved by his dad.

How had it come to this? How had it come to Caleb attending the funeral of his wife and unborn son? How was it possible? No one had the answer. The news had spread around quickly, but all anyone could tell Caleb was how sorry they were for his loss. He didn't want to know they were sorry. He wanted to know why it had happened. Why it had happened to him of all people.

"I can't go," Caleb said again. Attending the funeral meant it was real. This could all be some sick, sick nightmare and soon, Caleb would just wake up and Hanna would be lying right beside him, snoring away, whilst taking up over half of the bed. He would wake up and she would still be five and a half months pregnant, and in the morning, they would go out to the store and start buying nursery decorations.

"Please," Claudia begged. Her heart felt heavy. She had lost a daughter, a grandchild, and now it seemed she had lost a son, too. "I can't go by myself."

"You won't be by yourself," Caleb replied, his voice cold and harsh. "You'll have Clay and James."

Claudia felt like she was fighting a losing battle, but she wasn't going to give up. Even it meant using all her strength, she would take Caleb to that funeral and let him to say his goodbyes to his wife and son. "Fine. Go for Madelyn."

Caleb stopped. Madelyn. Maddie. Amongst all of the grief, Caleb had forgotten about his baby girl. He hadn't seen her since in over two weeks. She must be so confused, Caleb thought. Her parents had abandoned her. Well, Hanna not by choice. Caleb suddenly stood up and marched out of the door.

"Caleb?" Claudia called out, following him down the hall. They were in the apartment—Claudia had flown out from California almost immediately after hearing the news, and had been staying with her son ever since—and Caleb walked into the living room, where he picked up his cell and tried to switch it on. The screen stayed black. _Crap,_ he thought, _it's dead._ Caleb spotted his keys on the coffee table and grabbed them, before heading over to the door. Claudia had no idea what had suddenly gotten into Caleb, but she sure as hell knew she wasn't going to let him drive anywhere. Before Caleb could open the front door, she jumped in the way.

"I need to see Maddie," Caleb declared.

"She's in Rosewood, Caleb. She's three hours away," Claudia replied.

"So? I'll drive to Rosewood, then."

"No you won't," Claudia scoffed. "You can see her later, though."

Caleb's face was about to turn purple with anger. "I don't want to see her later, I want to see her now!" he yelled. Claudia jumped, frightened by the sudden outburst.

"You're not in a position where it's safe to drive," she said as calmly as possible. "Get your suit on and I'll drive us to Rosewood. The funeral's there, anyway."

Somehow, Claudia managed to persuade Caleb to get changed. The process was long, with Caleb moving slowly. He put one leg in the pants, but waited a good minute before putting in the other. Claudia was already dressed in a black pencil dress, a pair of small kitten heels, and had a thick, black winter coat hanging up by the front door.

Claudia and Caleb sat silent in the car. They were parked in the lot next to the large, Victorian church, and had been for the past 10 minutes. Various people were wandering into the church, all wearing black. Claudia looked to her right.

"Come on, Caleb." She grabbed his hand reassuringly. "Let's go in."

Caleb quickly pulled it away. "I can't."

"Caleb, please."

"What do you want me to do? Go right in like there's nothing wrong? That's my wife's funeral in there. _My_ freaking _wife_. So, I'm so very sorry, Mom, if I don't want to get up and go inside," Caleb yelled, spitting everywhere. Claudia gulped. He was right. But so was she.

"I can promise you now, you will regret it if you don't go to that funeral," she said. "I 100% promise that you will."

—

Caleb sat on the front pew, Aria, Spencer, Emily and Alison to his right. Ashley sat to his left, and had her hand gripped in his, whilst the other held a crumpled, tear-stained tissue.

There, in front of them, stood the coffin. It was a fine, mahogany wood, with beautiful flowers lying across the top that cascaded down to the floor. They were Hanna's favorite flower, lilies, and it was a painful reminder of what Caleb would never be able to buy her again. He used to love surprising her with a bunch when she used to come home from the boutique in Rosewood; her face would always light up when she saw them.

Pictures also surrounded the coffin, pictures of a fun, loving, beautiful woman who's life had been cut so tragically short.

"It'll be okay," Caleb heard Ted whisper to Ashley. Ashley looked tired and oddly aged, with her eyes teary. Madelyn was three pews back, sitting on the lap of her grandfather, Jamie. Claudia was there, too, along with her husband and two sons. Caleb was right, she wouldn't have been alone if he hadn't of come. And right now, Caleb was really regretting the decision to walk through the very doors that he and Hanna had burst out of on their wedding day. What a stupid idea, Caleb had thought, to hold the funeral in the same church the wedding had been in.

The minister at the front of the church shuffled towards the coffin and when he stopped, slowly clasped his hands together on his stomach. The church was filled with nothing but sadness, sorrow and grief. There are no smiles, no jokes, no laughter. Everything's solemn, and Hanna would have hated it.

"We're gathered here today to celebrate the life of Hanna Elise Rivers and her unborn child. Hanna was a gentle and kind young woman, who was thoroughly devoted to her husband and daughter…"

The minister carried on, but Caleb zoned out. He couldn't hear this. He couldn't hear what a wonderful woman Hanna was; he already knew that. Sitting here, in this very church, that he had married in just five years earlier, was destroying him. Caleb wanted to wake up from this nightmare. He didn't want to feel like this anymore, so heartbroken. He was in pain, physical pain, and it hurt. He was distraught, he was alone. And there was no one there he wanted to comfort him more than Hanna herself.

Images of the night Hanna was killed started flashing before Caleb's eyes. The arguments, the shouting, the loud slam of the front door filled Caleb's mind. The amount of regret Caleb felt was making his body ache. If only he could go back to that night and tell Hanna she didn't have to move to California if that wasn't what she wanted. She wouldn't have left the apartment, she wouldn't have gotten into her car filled with rage, and she wouldn't have been hit by that truck.

The funeral was ended with a short, meaningful but simple prayer. The congregation stood and started a slow descent out of the church, the coffin following shortly behind. Ashley grabbed Caleb's arm as she past the large doors and carefully made her way down the stone steps.

Ashley felt numb. Numb with grief, numb with sadness, numb with disbelief. There was an overwhelming sensation of pain within her heart. It felt like part of it had been ripped out, leaving a hollow hole behind, a hole that would never be filled again. When Ashley received the news that her only child, her beloved daughter had been killed, the world had come crashing down. She had dropped the phone and collapsed onto her knees, cursing at God.

"Why?" she had screamed repeatedly.

The burial was quiet. The winter sun was shining down, reflecting off of the wood. A few birds chirped in the tall trees above, but only the ones brave enough to come out in this cold weather. There was a harsh chill in the air, puffs of breath visible as everyone shivered. Caleb and Ashley stood arm in arm. Emily and Alison stood close for warmth. Aria and Spencer stood huddled into their husband's arms.

The minister mumbled a few words for the people that were listening, but for the close friends and family of Hanna, it was impossible to focus on what he was saying. All any of them could think about was the person lying inside of that wooden box.

Emily was remembering the moment she and Hanna first met back in sixth grade. Both girls were so awkward and giggly, they never even told each other their names. Their formal meeting and introducing of themselves happened three days later, when they were both standing in the cafeteria by themselves.

Alison was remembering the time she spent with Hanna in prison back in their final year of high school. It certainly wasn't a joyous time, but it was time they spent together, without the interruption of the other three girls.

Spencer was remembering when Hanna announced she was engaged to Caleb. Hanna had been so excited and ecstatic, she was barely able to let the news out. She had immediately shown everyone the bright, sparkling ring on her finger. She was the first one to get engaged, and made sure to let the others know.

Aria was remembering the day Hanna let it slip that she was pregnant with Madelyn. She wasn't supposed to, as she and Caleb had planned to announce the news at Christmas when they would all be spending time together, but accidentally said it whilst talking about going on vacation. She had murmured something about not being able to fly in a few months because she would be too big, and all four girls stopped chewing their food and let their jaws drop.

Ashley was remembering the phone call she had received from Hanna, letting her know that she was on her way to the hospital because she was finally in labor. Hanna was supposedly contracting, but she somehow managed to equal with excitement through all of the pain.

And Caleb…well, Caleb. He was remembering every second he ever spent with what he thought as the most beautiful, kind, sweet and just perfect woman to ever walk this earth.

It was hard to believe that very person was trapped inside of the coffin, her body mangled. The car had hurtled down the deserted street at such a speed, Hanna's body was nearly as wrecked as the vehicle was.

Ashley stared at the hole in the ground. This was it. This was her final goodbye to her baby girl. A tear rolled down her cheek, and she held the lily that had been handed out at the end of the service close to her heart. Emily and Aria simultaneously threw theirs towards the coffin, and it gently fluttered down to rest on the lid. Spencer did the same, and then, a few moments later, so did Alison.

Caleb gripped the stalk of the lily tight in his hand. He tried to let it go, but his body kept refusing. His fingers wouldn't drop it, like it was the last piece of Hanna he had left. He couldn't throw that.

Moments before the burial ended, Caleb let go of Ashley's arm and bent down. Now, with his face closer to Hanna's body, he whispered, "I'll never stop loving you, Hanna Rivers."

And Caleb never found someone so beautiful, so perfect again.


End file.
